Roberto Martinez was one of the busier managers in the transfer window, bringing in the likes of Gareth Barry on loan from Manchester City and James McCarthy from former club Wigan Athletic.

Republic of Ireland international Darron Gibson also returned to Premier League action as a second-half substitute in Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Manchester City, after a knee injury.

And Baines is delighted with the wealth of central options available to Martinez.

"It is great to see someone of Gibbo's (Gibson) quality back, it just adds to the strength we have in the squad - there is plenty of competition for those places in midfield especially," Baines said.

"That is great for the manager and it gives him the opportunity to rotate sometimes and that is only going to help us."

On whether this was the best Everton midfield Baines had seen, he added: "From what I can remember it is, just because of the quality we have and there are a lot of players fighting for places.

"We have Steven (Pienaar) to come back (from injury) so if we have everyone back fit, we will have a really good squad and the manager has some decisions to make."

The appointment of Martinez has seen the introduction of the Spaniard's preferred possession-based style of football.

And Baines is enjoying the different method the 40-year-old has introduced at Goodison Park.

"It's a work in progress but we're working towards being a much better team," added Baines.

"I'm enjoying that aspect of it. I'm learning and hopefully we will continue to build on what we've started.

"We've been working on different things and people have begun to enjoy watching some of them. We've just got to tighten up the other aspects and keep developing."

Everton's reverse against City was their first league defeat of the season, and they will look to bounce back from that loss when they host Hull City on October 19.