‘Magician’ McGeady can have best season yet - Martinez

Everton manager Roberto Martinez took up today where Martin O'Neill had left off by hailing Aiden McGeady's form and suggesting that the 28 year-old winger may well be about to have the best season of his career.

"I've said it before," the Spaniard observed while looking ahead to this weekend's Premier League trip to West Brom, "that we are going to see the best of Aiden McGeady this season and it's probably going to be the best season of his career in the British game so it's really, really exciting."

"I think the quality that he has is quite unique and we have seen already that he is in very good form. He scored against Leicester in the first game, he had two assists against Chelsea and then the two goals that he scored against Georgia; it shows you that he is in great form."

Martinez, who described the midfielder as “a magician,” said that he had sensed the player was going to deliver this year when he watched him in pre-season. “He was fully fit,” and “really focused”. McGeady is said to worked particularly hard his fitness, something that appears to have paid dividends over the last few weeks.

Asked about the performances of the club's other players - Séamus Coleman and James McCarthy - for Ireland last weekend, he was emphatic: "They are incredible ambassadors for our football club. And they represent a real example for our youngsters that are already here, chasing that dream of playing in the first team and representing their country, so obviously those stories are phenomenal examples for us."

McGeady himself credits Martinez with having played a major role in getting the best out of him over the opening weeks of the new campaign.

"Last season I was coming on and getting five, 10, 15 minutes here and there," said the player, who arrived at the club from Spartak Moscow in the January window some way short of fully fit, on Tuesday. He struggled to make anything like the impact he would have liked to over the remainder of the season but feels ready to play his part.

“This season I have felt more settled and part of the team. The more comfortable you become with your surroundings, the more you will play with freedom.The manager and coaching staff have been great in saying that to me. They have given me pointers here and there about expressing myself and that’s what I’ve tried to do when I’ve been on the pitch.

“When I am on the pitch I know I have a responsibility to create chances and score goals (but) there were times last season when I was probably more concerned about not giving the ball away.

“They have been very vocal and positive with me about that – they have been saying it doesn’t matter how many times I give the ball away, if I create a chance and we score from it then that’s the main thing. It’s about being more expressive and positive with my play.”