The Toffees manager has called for fan unity ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final tie with Chelsea.

Roberto Martinez has said, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo, that he understands the frustrations of the club’s supporters after a fifth home defeat in the last seven matches at Goodison Park, but has pleaded with the fans to unite ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final with Chelsea.

The Toffees surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to West Ham in front of their own fans at the weekend to leave them with just a single home league win since November.

The Spanish manager and his side are coming in from increased criticism from the Goodison faithful, but Martinez is pinning his hopes on victory over the defending league champions kickstarting their season.

The former Wigan Athletic boss, whose side beat Everton 3-0 on Merseyside on the way to winning the FA Cup in 2013, has issued a rallying cry to the club’s fans, asking them to unite in unequivocal support on Saturday.

He said, as quoted by the Echo: “We are human and we are allowed to be down and frustrated and angry and hurting because we all care about our football club and we all want the same thing, which is winning games and being successful.

“Now we have to make sure we are together as a club and perform as well as we can. We have to help every action of the team on the pitch. We are really looking forward to supporting each other and making it a special environment.

“The atmosphere was terrific on Saturday. We know we can replicate that. We are desperate to make our fans extremely satisfied by our performance [and] the FA Cup is a perfect competition to do that.”

Everton will be looking to progress beyond the quarter-final stage of the FA Cup for only the third time since winning the competition in 1995 when they face Chelsea, the team who beat them in the 2009 final, this weekend.

The Toffees go into the clash 12th in the Premier League, two points and two places behind the resurgent Blues.

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