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Roberto Martinez has hailed the hunger of new recruit Lacina Traore as Everton enter the "most important period" of their season.

The Blues boss said the Ivorian striker, who is recovering fast from a hamstring injury, has got a chance of travelling with the squad to face Spurs on Sunday.

Martinez said: "Lacina is progressing really well. We need to assess whether it is wise or not to give him playing time over the next two or three weeks.

"He's fully fit from a medical point of view. The last thing we want is for him to stretch to get the physicality of the Premier League and suffer. He's got an incredible, hungry approach towards everything he does.

"When you see him straight away it gives you a clear idea of what he can bring to the team. He is stronger than I thought and he's got an incredible appetite for his debut at Everton.

"That impresses me. After he watched the last home game against Aston Villa, you could see he was desperate to be fit and help the team."

The boss added: "His co-ordination for such a tall guy is quite rare. The combination play in the final third is as good as it gets and he's got a good goalscoring touch. He's got the physical presence to be a target man in open play as well."

In pictures: Blues beat Villa 2-1

Updating on the progress of other injuries, Martinez said: "Seamus Coleman has come through training really well. Antolin [Alcaraz] is going to be out at the weekend but it is nothing to worry about.

"Romelu Lukaku is going to be out for a couple of weeks. He's been recovering really, really well.

The manager said everyone else - including Ross Barkley and Gerard Deulofeu - is fully fit and available apart from long-term absentees Bryan Oviedo, Arouna Kone and Darren Gibson.

Looking ahead to this weekend's game at White Hart Lane, Martinez praised Spurs' style under new boss Tim Sherwood.

He said: "Spurs play with a real freedom. They come out and press high with real intensity and good energy. They can do a little bit of everything.

"It's a dangerous team and I don't think we've seen their best image yet. It's going to be a terrific test."

The boss said the smooth transition to his brand of football seen at Goodison Park this season is a credit to the players.

He said: "When you are in the dressing room you can be open minded or find it difficult to face change. Footballers are creatures of habits..

"Our example is not the norm - you've got a group of players who are very confident in what they do with great standards. The senior players at the club have given a really good stability to what we do every day.

"They have allowed the new signings to come in and feel like they've been at the club for many years."

Martinez added: "The final 14 games of the season is where every point has extra significance. It doesn't matter who you are playing against - every result from now until the end of the season will show us which aim we are going to fight for.

"Winning football games is the most important thing but for us, but how you win those games is more important. It's the only way you can achieve something special in the future.

"Internally we are getting very, very strong and getting ready to build something special for the future.

"Financially we are in a very good position and the squad is as strong as it has ever been.

"We've got many reasons for us to work as hard as we can behind the scenes to make sure that we've got a bright future."

More on EFC today:

An exclusive from Greg O'Keeffe sees Martinez hail the 'Bainaar' partnership of Leighton Baines and Steven Pienaar.

And Phil Jagielka says Sunday's Spurs trip is crucial to the Blues' European ambitions.