Roberto: Everton unfortunate not to get all three points

In a game beset by inconsistent refereeing, Everton had chances to get the win but ended up drawing the Merseyside Derby against Liverpool. Manager Roberto Martinez was furious about referee Martin Atkinson's hesitation to send off Liverpool midfielder Lucas instead choosing to not give the player a second yellow.

On the question if Lucas should have been sent off -

"Yes. I don't understand the decision. I thought Lucas was very, very clever.

"He was a major part of this Liverpool side to stop our counter-attack and he did that really well. He got booked for one of those and his technical fouls were very clever.

"But the second one was from behind - he pushes his luck and he should have been given another yellow card. Martin the referee has a clear view.

"I don't know if he got affected by previous decisions in derbies, but I did think we should have played against 10 men in the last 15 minutes."

On Everton's performance on the day -

"I thought our performance was good enough to get the three points. You need to earn those three points and I didn't think we had that little bit of luck or the little break you sometimes need in front of goal.

"We saw Mignolet have the best two moments of the game. I thought he was outstanding, especially with the first one to keep out Steven Naismith's header - it was as good a save as you're going to see. The same with James McCarthy's shot as well because his view was blocked.

"Then, our goal from open play. They are three big actions - and you would feel as though that would be enough.

"We're disappointed with the goal we conceded from a dead ball situation, but I was extremely pleased with the way we reacted and performed.

"I thought we looked even stronger in the second half; every time we had the ball in their half we looked like creating something and we looked dangerous. There are too many positives to just highlight dropping two points at home."