They have secured just one point from their last three games however they have played Premier League heavyweights in the forms of local rivals, Liverpool and title chasers, Manchester United and Arsenal.
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The cup stopper produced a fine one-handed save from striker Lewis Grabban’s header in the last minute to deny the Canaries a 2-1 win in normal time before he saved Wes Hoolahan’s spot-kick in the shoot-out that Everton won 4-3.
“It’s fair to say all the ingredients you need to have for a wining team have been tested in this competition from resilience to strength of character to never giving up, finding the chemistry between the players and pushing at the right moments”, Martinez told reporters.
“I am very pleased for Joel because he had been working very hard behind the scenes and is starting to show how reliable he is”.
Yet Martinez insisted his fellow countryman will not displace Howard for the time being and will be relegated back to the sidelines when Sunderland arrive at Goodison Park on Sunday.
The Toffees boss was also keen to dampen expectations despite the prospect of a cup semi-final – and even final – beginning to loom into view.
“I thought after Gerard [Deulofeu] came on we had the best chances and found a way through”.
“Credit to Norwich, they got the crowd frustrated in spells but we dealt with that really well”.
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“We are delighted we are where we are, it’s only the second time in the last 28 years”. Obviously in recent weeks, in terms of performances, certainly results, haven’t been as good as we would hope or expect so a few of the other lads will get an opportunity to stake a claim and we’ll see what happens from there. We’ll be ready. If you don’t win games the players are not going to be bubbling with confidence. “But there is still a long way to go before you can think about getting in a position about winning a trophy”.
