Wigan Athletic | News | Latics News | Latics News | 'EVERYONE WANTS TO PROVE THEMSELVES'

'EVERYONE WANTS TO PROVE THEMSELVES' - GAFFER

Posted on: Thu 26 Aug 2010

Martinez delighted with confidence around squad and competition for places after Hartlepool performance

Roberto Martinez has admitted that the mid-week win at Hartlepool has breathed fresh confidence around the club, and given him some tough selection-decisions to make for this weekend's game at Tottenham;

"There's always a great mood about the club after the first win of the season, it breathes confidence around the place and helps the players during their work through the week," said Martinez.

"Everyone is trying to get that opportunity to show what they can do and after the results we've had there are many places up for grabs in the team at the moment.

"It's important that the entire squad is ready and focused for what will be a like a cup-final for us going in search of our first league win of the season.

"Unfortunately it's bad news for Victor (Moses) who received a bad tackle against Hartlepool. Normally those tackles tend to look worse than they actually are, but in this case it's affected ligaments on both sides of his ankle and he'll definitely be out of the game against Spurs.

"He could also miss the England Under-21 international but hopefully 2-3 weeks will be the maximum time he'll be out for."

As for Tottenham themselves the gaffer knows the task ahead is a tough one, especially after their Champions League win on Wednesday night, but is confident his team can give a good account of themselves at White Hart Lane and cancel out the 'cheap' mistakes from previous games;

He said; "They are in a great moment after a good result in European competition, so you can imagine how they are feeling at the moment.

"We need to be ready for that, know exactly what we're doing on the pitch and make sure we perform.

"When you're playing a team who are in a confident mood they are a harder team to play against. But we've shown this season that it's not about the team you're playing, it's about how we ourselves perform on the day.

"We need to find a way of cancelling out the cheap goals we've been conceding and sustain the periods of positive play we're capable of, like in the first-half against Chelsea.

"We need to go to White Hart Lane and give a good account of ourselves. It's going to be tough to come away with all three points, it's tough for any team to get anything from there, but we have to be ready for the challenge in order to show what we can do.

"It doesn't matter who you're playing against if you don't get those things right you'll get hurt, and that is where our work is focused."

The full interview will be available on Latics Player shortly!