Every word Southampton's Martin said ahead of facing Everton

How are we with the team news this week after illness going through the club?

RM: I think everyone's pretty much recovered, so everyone trained today. I think Ryan Fraser is probably the only injury concern we have. 

After coming off early the other night, we'll assess him again in the morning. He did a little bit today, we'll have to assess him again and see if he's available.

Do you look at the glass half-full regarding the win over Stoke City?

RM: Yeah, and also I have to respect what the players did on the pitch and the performance. To have so much of the ball in the opposition final third is not easy.

I don't think the opposition was set up to play the game in that way, but the players turned it into that sort of game.

I enjoyed a lot of it until we conceded, and then we got through and we won. So it was a good night for us really, on the whole. 

A lot of players getting minutes who haven't had minutes for a while. We're through to the quarter-final of the Cup and a good draw.

Well, a tough draw, but a good one for everyone. We've got Liverpool at home to look forward to. Any frustration I felt was just for the players.

I think it could have been an even better night for us and for them to have on the pitch but we got through it and we won, so I'm pleased.

Is Liverpool a quarter-final for fans to look forward to?

RM: Yeah, I think so. We're in the quarter-final of a cup competition, so I think it's good.

We have plenty of time between now and then to make everyone feel better and even more excited about it by picking up some points in the Premier League.

The performance at Man City, the praise that followed from Pep Guardiola, the win this week, does it have a cumulative effect in terms of confidence boosting?

RM: I hope so. I don't think the players have ever lost or lacked belief in what they are doing and what we're asking them to do.

I just think results help, good performances help, good process helps, but I think there was a level of pride from the players in the way they performed last week.

There was a really good feeling after winning the game. They wanted more. They weren't that happy, the players, after the game.

But I think actually the energy on Wednesday was really good because we won and we got through. They are fighting and we've been so close. 

I think the frustration we feel is that we don't feel like we have what we deserve to have. But sometimes that's football and we have to make sure we put that right.

It's still a long, long way to go. It's a long season and we've been so competitive, so close. We now need to just see one through and win a game and that will help hugely.

A lot of praise for Adam Lallana and his influence against Man City - how is your relationship?

RM: I don't know Adam and Roberto De Zerbi's relationship but I'm really happy with the relationship I have with him. 

We're really honest and open with each other. He asks me a lot of questions, I ask him a lot of questions.

If he takes as much from me as I've taken from him and I take from him, then that would be brilliant. 

I think he's an amazing character. It was one of the biggest reasons to bring him back here to help us as a coaching staff with his experience in the Premier League.

To help the young players, but also to help us on the pitch. Fortunately, we're in a position now where he can help us on the pitch.

Hopefully he'll be able to help us regularly. I think he was huge last weekend for us and he has been when he's been on the pitch.

In the same way, Jack Stephens was huge for us as well with a really brilliant performance. They are two really experienced players. 

They're two players that care for the club because they've come through here. I think we need that sort of experience in the team right now.

Adam has voice, a lot of voice on the pitch, off the pitch. He's a big part of what we are doing. But on the pitch, that voice away to Man City he helped the players a lot.

I think he makes people better around him, so the more we can get him on the pitch, the better.

Do the Pep Guardiola comments quieten the external noise a little bit?

RM: I don't know if it has quietened it. I'm pretty sure it won't because I think we have to win. I think that's what people will be interested in. 

I always say to the players, what they get from their peers and their competitors, people you play against, you have to respect.

I really respect him as a manager and what he's done, he's one of the greatest ever. That's not external noise.

I think when people play against you and they work towards something and they understand the work that goes into it...

He's been in this job for a much longer time than me, so he understands the stresses and strains of it and what's difficult and what's not.

So of course it's good to hear certain things from him. We had a chat after, but in terms of what else was said and all that, I don't know.

The players had a good feeling after the game, not about losing, we don't want to lose, but I always say if we're going to lose, let's do it in a way where we actually come off the pitch feeling proud of the performance and what we've given and we've been brave.

They displayed so much courage, the players, so we have to live there all the time now. We've done it against some really good teams in moments and now we have to do it under big pressure in two games coming up.

What advice would you give to Ruben Amorim at Man United?

RM: Not a clue. I haven't come from overseas, I've come from here. If Jason Wilcox has had anything to do with the appointment, I'm pretty sure it'll be good. 

He's done a brilliant job at Sporting Lisbon, so he will not come to me for any advice and I'm not in the guise of giving advice to anyone, including my players.

I'll always offer an opinion if asked and I haven't been asked one in this instance, so I'm not going to give one.

Do you know much about him?

RM: I think he's a brilliant coach, I've watched a lot of his team and I think they're a really good team. 

I really admire the way his team plays and I think he'll do a brilliant job for Man United. I think it's a good appointment but I'm not the man to give him any advice at all.

How easy is it for Saints to be this team without Adam Lallana in it? Is he absolutely integral to playing that way?

RM: No, I think we've done it without him on the pitch. We did it for a year without him on the pitch, albeit in a different league.

I think he just helps the other players around him. I think the team looked a bit different when he went off on Saturday for sure, because he has so much courage.

He will take the ball anywhere and has the voice to help the team. His job, as much as mine, is to make sure the team stays the same.

Even when he's off the pitch he can by adding value to the people in training around him, for them to understand what he brings, why he brings certain things.

I think when we need him in certain games, which we will, then he will be massive.

Is there anything you can do to make sure he's available more than he has been?

RM: I think if you look at his last couple of years at Brighton, he was used really well by Roberto and the team there.

We have a really good sports science team here and medical team. He's training regularly, he's playing, but he's 36, so I think there is going to be a limit to it.

I don't think he's played many 90 minutes at all, if at all, in the last couple of years, so we have to be realistic with that. We have to use him in the right way for different games.

I said it at the start of the season, he's a really important player for us and a really important signing, and I think his contribution will be massive.

What will be the difference facing Everton here to the cup game this season?

RM: I think the start at 11 will be different for a start, and they've also gone five games unbeaten, so they're in a really good place.

They've found a bit of rhythm, with a manager who's got so much experience, and a team that's so well organised and really good at what they do. 

They carry big threats and really top players in the Premier League, so I think it's going to be difficult. I think it's a completely different game, a different context.

The challenge for us, in the same way as it was last week at City, is to try and be the team that we want to be, and play the game that we want to play.

They definitely don't make it easy to do that, so it's going to require all of the same stuff that we brought onto the pitch last weekend. 

I'm really confident, I'm really excited about the game, so I think the players are in a really good place, and I'm really confident they can do that.

Are they an example of how fortunes in this league can flip very quickly?

RM: Yes, I think so. The same way Bournemouth were last year, I don't think they won a game in nine and ended up with their best finish in the Premier League.

I think there are so many points to play for. There's such a long way to go. Two results can change things dramatically.

Everton have been on a good run, which has changed things dramatically for them, so I'm really confident that we're capable of doing the same.

We have to start that somewhere, so I hope that is tomorrow.

You watched Stoke from high up - what did you enjoy about that?

RM: I enjoyed getting a different view of the game and seeing it a bit differently without being in the heat of the battle on the sidelines, so I've quite enjoyed that.

I just didn't enjoy being that far away from the players and the staff, but I'm pretty sure (Matt) Gilly enjoyed being that far away from me for a bit.

Although now not having an earpiece in and listening to my voice. It was good in some ways, but I wouldn't want to do it all the time.

I enjoy being next to the team and close. I just have to learn to behave better, obviously.

Do you think that's something that will ever catch on?

RM: I don't know. I speak to rugby coaches about it. We've had some really good rugby coaches come in here.

We've been to rugby national teams and clubs and stuff to try and learn a bit from them. I'm not sure. I think football is a different spectacle.

A lot of rugby is stop-start at the Rugby Union, especially set-piece. I don't know. I think managers have tried to do it in the past, and it's been shot down.

You have people you trust up in the gantry, which we do in terms of analysts and coaches, and to give you the right information, you can feel it on the pitch and see it.

But everyone's different, right? I enjoy being on the touchline. There may be a time when I don't if I'm a bit older if I'm lucky enough to be in a job that long. 

Do you see more of the 'dark arts' in the Premier League?

RM: I think it depends how you define dark arts, really. I'm pretty sure a lot of us would have a different definition of what that means.

I think the best teams make the best fouls, manage the game at the right time, take the sting out of the game at the right time, and have a win-at-all-costs mindset. 

What separates the best players from the good ones is mentality and mindset, really, because the difference in ability at that level in the Premier League is not huge.

But the ones with the best mindset, psychology, whatever you want to call it, I think are the ones that prevail.

I think when you look at the top teams, they're incredible at it in terms of understanding momentum and flow and being able to disrupt that. 

I think it's something we are trying to teach and learn and help grow within a young group of guys who are finding their way in the Premier League. 

I think it's been a really interesting part of learning for us and something we need to get better at.

Is there a difference between those who want to enjoy football as a spectacle and those who are ultimately trying to win games?

RM: No, I think you can have both. I think if you look at Arsenal and Man City and the way they play, you can really enjoy that. 

Liverpool are the same, but they're very, very good at managing the game when they need to. It comes with elite experience and mindset.

We're doing our best to do it in our way and what it means to us and making the players aware of how important that is.

Everton have played the second-most long-balls - how different a challenge is that for your side?

RM: We've made a point of that. Newcastle away, Man United at home for half an hour.

There have been some really tough games with tough opponents where the guys have really stood up and performed brilliantly in moments.

We haven't got enough out of those, but the challenge is now to do that at home against a team that plays in a very, very different way and are very good at it. 

A lot of respect for what they do and how they do it and they are very good at it. So the challenge is to be as much us as we possibly can.

We want to take the fight out of the game with the ball as much as we can, but when we have to fight to really fight and compete and battle and run.

I think we're really aware of the challenge we face and what they possess and how we can try and combat that and be ourselves to put in the performance we need to. 

Are second balls massive against Everton?

RM: It's always massive regardless of how you play, whatever phase of the game. Set pieces, second balls, they're huge. We have to make sure we do that well.

Will the season be defined by the next two games?

RM: I think every game is huge in a Premier League, I really do. That will probably be seen as a bit of a cop-out, but they are, they're all massive.

Every single game you have a chance to get points, we haven't gone to Arsenal or Man City to try and avoid damage and just to limit damage.

We've gone there to try and be the team we want to be and play. It's the same against Everton at home, we have to try and win the game. 

The situation we're in is so frustrating, but it's the one we're in. But we also have a lot of time to put it right and a lot of time to grow.

We have a lot of time to get out of it, so how important is this game and Wolves for us? It'ss huge because they all are.

We want to get the first win and we want to get some points and we want to pick up where we are on the table. 

How important they are in the grand scheme of things, I won't be able to tell you at the end of the season. So yeah, we'll have to wait and see.

People will be asking about your job again...

RM: That been there every game, mate.

Your relationship with the owners, you've always had clarity with them, so have you still got that clarity whatever happens next?

RM: Yeah, not at any point have they said to me like... I think everyone reported the Leicester one, or the lazy journalists did, that said that was do or die.

That I'd get sacked if we lost that. And then I saw one on Saturday about Man City, if we lost there, I'd get sacked that night. The owners have been brilliant. 

When I speak to Henrik, Dragan, Rasmus, Phil and the gang here and Mark, everyone's been so supportive.

I think they understand how close we are, how close we have been. I think there's a level of respect between us all that we can be really honest.

We all understand we have to do it a bit differently. We can't go out and spend a huge amount of money.

We've spent good money for this football club and we've been supportive back, but we can't spend hundreds of millions of pounds to try and do what we want. 

So we have to do something differently and we're trying to do it in our way and we will keep trying to do it until I am told I'm not required to try any more.

We're enjoying the journey and we're getting better. I think we're improving, we're growing. Now the next step is to win, because we have to.

How important is getting the defence right in the next few weeks?

RM: It's annoying. We have to defend with the same mentality that we defended on Saturday, with the same level of intensity, the same willingness to fight.

Yeah, it'll come. I think Aaron Ramsdale was so frustrated on Tuesday. He said to me he hadn't even got thirsty and conceded two goals. He didn't even need a drink.

He was annoyed and frustrated, as he should be. But I think we had that for a bit last year and then went on a run where we kept a lot of clean sheets.

Of course it's a bit tougher in the Premier League, but yeah, I think the lads know what's important for us to achieve that together and it will be important.

I think the lads have an understanding of what's required and what's needed and I trust them to carry it out.