Traore remains a Blue - but how much will we see of him?

Troare's loan move from Monaco has quickly turned into a disaster, with the player having to wait nearly a month to gain enough fitness to make his debut before injuring himself all over again the following week.

There were fears that his latest hamstring strain would require an operation, meaning his loan from Monaco would be terminated while he recuperated.

The ever positive Martinez though was delighted to confirm that the injury does not require Traore to go under the knife, meaning he will stay with the Toffees.

He will, though, be out injured for anywhere between six and eight weeks. Throw in the fact he will need a good few training sessions to get up to speed again we are talking a return for around the final match of the season (plus the Cup final, if all goes well).

Is it really worth keeping a player in order to play a handful of games at the end of the season? Or is it a risk worth taking given our sparse resources? (i.e. it's either him or nobody)

There is also the theory that Traore may well be available on a loan for next season. Monaco were very quick to let him go out in January after signing him from Anzhi, a club who were desperate for anyone to buy their biggest earners in order to balance the books.

It may well be that the Ligue 1 side aim their sights higher in the close-season and invest in further striking talent, leaving Traore out in the cold.

If that's the case then these next few months could be a chance for the striker to get to know the club and vice versa, before a handful of performance to show his talents at the end of the season.

And if he can keep up his current one game/one goal scoring ratio we may just have bagged ourselves a bargain!

Martinez said:

"With Lacina, we've seen the specialists and we're now ready to proceed with what's going to be the best treatment for Lacina, and it's not going to be surgery, which is fantastic news.

"It's fantastic news that he doesn't need to go down that route, as that means he's going to be available for the end of the season.

"We're expecting between six and eight weeks to be the period he needs to be recovering, but we're all very positive."