Martinez pleased with character of team after Stoke draw

Despite a frustrating night at the DW Stadium Roberto Martinez was happy with the character of his team to combat the physical approach of Stoke and have a commanding influence on the game.

The gaffer admitted that the withdrawal of James McCarthy through injury was a major turning-point in the game, but was nonetheless pleased with his team's performance:

"We can be very pleased with the way we controlled the ball in the first half and got ourselves a deserved lead," said Martinez.

"We expected Stoke to come out in the second half and put us under a lot of pressure, and a few things didn't go our way.

"Young James McCarthy damaged his hamstring and we couldn't get hold of the ball after he went off to take the sting out of the game.

"The pitch also started to cut up, which didn't help our style of play.

"But the character we showed after we conceded was great, and it is another point that will allow us to carry on growing and getting better.

"We tried to change it towards the end when we put Marcelo (Moreno) on, and that gave us a little bit more of a physical presence up front.

"In their position, Stoke are on a good run and had nothing to lose and had a proper go at us."

The gaffer had changed things round in the line-up teaming up McCarthy with the in-form Momo Diame in the centre of midfield. Whilst he was encouraged by their partnership the gaffer was disappointed that the entire team's efforts could not be rewarded with three points:

"The partnership in the middle of the park between Mohamed Diame and James McCarthy worked really well and allowed Paul Scharner to go forward.

"And not being able to continue that in the second half hurt us and in many ways gave a lot of momentum to Stoke.

"We have to learn from this situation, and we have a lot of games between now and the end of the season and a lot of points to play for.

"We can't be anxious, we can't be in a position where we feel we have something to lose.

"When you are so dominant in a game, like we were in the first half, it is vital to score goals when you are on top.

"When Stoke put a lot of pressure on us in the second half, maybe a few weeks ago we would not have been able to keep them out."

"I am very frustrated but I am also very, very pleased with many aspects.