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Kevin Mirallas has been told he must repeat his “outstanding” performance against Chelsea on a consistent basis.

The Belgium international scored a stunning half-volley at Stamford Bridge at the weekend and impressed on only his third league start of the season.

Mirallas was yesterday quoted in the Belgian press as saying: “Today I have proven that I am a footballer who deserves to play, or at least one who should get more playing time.”

Everton boss Roberto Martinez has welcomed the 28-year-old’s desire to get back in the starting line-up on a regular basis and hailed his performance against Chelsea.

But the Blues manager has now challenged Mirallas to maintain that level of performance for the rest of the campaign.

“I will never, ever, try to explain the big advantage I have as a manager,” Martinez said.

“I am a neutral person, I can assess every single training session and at the moment we have a very, very strong squad which means that you need to be at your best as a player in order to earn the right to play.

“That is the key for us becoming a team that can compete for everything that is in front of us.

“Kevin’s performance was outstanding and that is what you want from every member of our squad so I have got no problem whatsoever with that and football is the best judge and when Kevin is at his very, very best he showed just how important he is for us.”

Mirallas is likely to find his opportunities increase with the expected departure of Steven Naismith to Norwich City.

And the forward’s display at the weekend has heightened Martinez’s belief that he can play in the support-striker role to the left of Romelu Lukaku.

Mirallas’ Everton future had been thrown into doubt after he became concerned over his lack of game-time and clubs, including Monaco, have been monitoring his situation.

The former Olympiakos man has feared missing out on the Belgian squad for Euro 2016 due to lack of minutes at Everton but Martinez’s words will come as reassurance to him.