The Argentinian has played all nine games so far and scored his second goal of the season in the 4-1 win away to Central Coast Mariners on Saturday.

Popovic admitted Martinez lacked full match fitness, adding he has found some form and will improve.

“You can see he’s now at the level where he’s getting three or four good opportunities a game… which he probably wasn’t in the first month he was here,” Popovic said.

“He’s getting stronger, able to get into positions to show his quality which he has and if that continues we believe the goals will keep coming.

“We expect as the weeks go on the fatigue will set in later, we knew he was (a talent) before he arrived here.

“It’s taken a bit of time to get him up to speed but we accept that and we expect a big second half of the season.

“He’s just starting to hit his straps now and getting consecutive games where he’s finishing games strongly.”

Star midfielder Mitch Nichols had no problem playing with newcomers Martinez and Jumpei Kusukami.

Martinez praised Nichols for his instinct earlier in the week.

“It’s not hard to strike up a partnership with someone (Martinez) with that much quality,” Nichols said.

“He always seems like he has time on the ball and can pick the right pass and make the right run.

“You can trust him, when he’s given the ball and we know he’s going to do something so he’s been real good, for the league as well and hopefully he can continue that form.”

The Wanderers are still winless at home in season 2016/17 and return to ANZ Stadium for the second time, the first being a 4-0 loss to crosstown rivals Sydney FC in Round 1 derby.

Popovic maintained his team’s performances did not reflect its position on the table (6th) as they seek their second consecutive win against Melbourne Victory (3rd) on Saturday night.

Western Sydney lost 3-0 to Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium in Round 6, a game in which Popovic believed the club was hard done by.

The mentor ruled out Steven Lustica with an ankle injury and said he was unbothered about the exclusion of Victory’s Marco Rojas and Mitch Austin.

“He (Rojas) didn’t play last time, we lost 3-0, so I wouldn’t look too much into it,” Popovic said.

“I don’t know about revenge, it plays on our mind because of how good we were.

“We already showed some fantastic signs away from home in terms of our performance, the negative is we lost 3-0 and we have to turn that around.

“Without our performance improving on that last one, that won’t be possible, we understand the challenge ahead but we also go into it with the belief we’re good enough to win.

“We’re confident going into the game, we’re playing well - which we have been doing all season and can we make it two wins in a row? That’s the challenge we’ve got.”