The Toffees travel to the DW Stadium tomorrow unbeaten in eight Barclays Premier League games, a run that has seen them surge up the table to ninth place and brought about renewed hopes of a challenge for Europe.

It has been some turnaround for David Moyes' side, who were hampered by a string of injuries at the start of the campaign and found themselves only two places and three points above the relegation zone in November after a 2-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby.

Their dramatic improvement since then has come as no surprise to Martinez and the Spaniard admits his team will have a tough task tomorrow to halt Everton's momentum.

"I think from Everton's point of view, the surprise was that they couldn't hit that sort of good form," Martinez said.

"You look at the squad and players that they have got and they have good experience, have been working together for a long time and they are an exciting group of players, so I think it was only a matter of time before they hit that form.

"Probably they are coming here to the DW at the wrong time (for us) as they are in the middle of a very good run.

"But when we play at home we feel that we can beat anyone and compete against anyone, and that's going to be the case on Saturday."

While Everton have shown how an unbeaten run can revitalise your season, Wigan have struggled to find consistency at any point this term, something the manager is keen to address.

Wednesday's 2-1 defeat at Blackburn left them 14th and only two points above the drop zone, but Martinez believes a few wins could change everything for the Latics.

"You have the bottom 10 teams and if someone thinks they are clear and out of relegation, they are mistaken," Martinez said.

"It is going to be very close until the end of the season.

"But in the same way, the teams that are in relegation positions now are not in a critical position - you are only two, three, four points away from being in a good position.

"You have 15, 16, 17 games to play for, so I wouldn't say that now is the time to look at the table.

"There are things that we need to correct and clearly we have to correct the inconsistency that we have shown in the first half of the campaign, where we have been our own enemy.

"But it is an exciting challenge and I see it as a first step that we need to go on to the next level, which has always been the plan. We need to achieve our aim, which is to stay in the Premier League, and then kick on and go into different aims."

Honduras defender Maynor Figueroa today signed an improved contract at the club, ending speculation linking the player with a move away.

Martinez this week described talk of a move to Sunderland as "disgusting" after he felt the rumours had affected his player's performance on Wednesday night.

The manager, who is weighing up whether or not to make a complaint to the Premier League about the matter, thinks the January schedule is too hectic for any interference and has called on the authorities to keep football and transfer negotiations separate from one another.

"In January you are involved in the FA Cup, you are involved in the league," Martinez said.

"It is a key moment in the season and all this transfer speculation and the way that the agents deal with it, it really affects players' careers.

"I think its quite clear we should look into it and if we need to have a window I don't think we should have any competitive fixtures in that period."

Reports prior to the Blackburn match suggested Figueroa had threatened to go on strike in an apparent attempt to engineer a move away from the DW Stadium, but Martinez stressed he had no problem with the player himself and reaffirmed his determination to hold on to the 26-year-old Honduras international.

"All the stories of Maynor doing something wrong, I can guarantee - not just now - they will never be true," Martinez said.

"Maynor is going nowhere and we hope that he enjoys, with no distractions, the rest of the season and that he goes to the World Cup and makes everyone proud."