Everton-Swansea set for spicy FA Cup clash

Everton manager Roberto Martinez is looking forward to coming up against his former teammate and now interim Swansea boss Garry Monk in the FA Cup fifth round.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez admits renewing acquaintances with Swansea interim boss Garry Monk will add an extra dimension to Sunday's FA Cup fifth round clash against his former club at Goodison Park.

The duo were teammates at Swansea for a couple of seasons before Martinez left the South Wales club in 2006 to end his playing career with Chester City.

Martinez subsequently took over as Swansea manager in February 2007 and the Spaniard acknowledged how Monk, as his captain, helped him lay the foundation for his early managerial success at the Liberty Stadium.

"When I took over I decided to bring players from abroad and then you need to rely on that British core, which Garry was the centre of," Martinez said.

"Garry knew how important it was to bring all those different mentalities and cultures together to get a winning side.

A big part of what happens in the dressing room is down to the captain, and he brought direction.

"I built a new squad around him as I knew that he was the perfect captain and that he would keep that role for the future, knowing that we were going to bring many different foreigners and talents."

Monk has remained with the Swans since, playing more than 250 games for the club and was placed in temporary charge earlier this month following the sacking of former manager Michael Laudrup.

Everton will hand a debut to Ivory Coast striker Lacina Traore, who joined the Toffees on loan from AS Monaco last month but has been recovering from a hamstring injury.


2 min read

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Updated

Source: AAP


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