Martina wants to become as good as Everton teammate Coleman

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Cuco Martina’s place in the Everton side is under threat.

Everton defender Cuco Martina has told the club’s official website that he is watching Seamus Coleman’s performances to help improve his own game, as his place in the side comes under threat.

The 28-year-old lined-up alongside Ireland international Coleman in defence on Saturday as the Toffees suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to Javi Gracia’s Watford at Vicarage Road.

Covering for the injured Leighton Baines, Martina is desperate to retain his place despite the England international and set-piece specialist soon to return to recover from a calf problem.

Martina, a 33-time Curacao international is looking to prove that he deserves to remain in the side ahead of Baines and is looking at Coleman’s displays to improve his own game on the left side of Everton’s back four.

“I’d saw [Seamus] Coleman play a lot but had never played with him,” Martina said. “The first game he played was against Leicester City.

“I was thinking, ‘He is so good for a player who did not play for a long time!’. He impressed me a lot. In that game he showed me some things where I thought, ‘I need to do that as well to grow more as a player’.”

Coleman, who reportedly earns £38,000 a week at Goodison Park, has reinstated himself as the Toffees’ first-choice right-back following a long stint on the sidelines following his leg break while on international duty against Wales.

Martina and Coleman are both expected to start this weekend as the Toffees go up against Burnley at Turf Moor, which will be Michael Keane’s first return to his old side since his £25million move from Sean Dyche’s side in the summer.