Roberto Martinez takes an Everton side buoyed by victory over Premier League champions Chelsea to former club Swansea City on Saturday and is convinced he has a squad ready for success.
Steven Naismith came off the bench to score a perfect hat-trick as Everton put Jose Mourinho s men to the sword at Goodison Park last weekend in a 3-1 triumph.
The task for Everton now is to replicate that fine performance at the Liberty Stadium against a club Martinez captained as a player and managed between 2007 and 2009.
I do [think we have a squad to compete], he said. I feel the characters we have are hungry, desperate for success, desperate to push each other and we have competition for places now that we didn t have before.
The football demands of being at your best or someone else will take your place allows you to be competitive and I think the squad is ready for that.
The mentality has been right for a long time. Now it s about getting momentum and good continuity.
The performance we had against Chelsea and the one against Southampton away [3-0 win] are performances close to each other and a great sign that we can be consistent.
Martinez also spoke of his admiration for opposite number Garry Monk, who played with and under the Spaniard at Swansea.
I don t see another manager who has had such a big influence over the last three seasons taking different roles, having to stabilise the team, giving them direction, and avoiding relegation, he added.
He then had a full season and achieved their best-ever finish in the Premier League, and is now following that with a really strong start to this season with different personnel for me, it has been a very, very impressive job he has done.
Monk s men, who are one place below Everton in eighth on goal difference, enjoyed a fine start to the campaign and spirits in south Wales were high following a 2-1 victory over Manchester United before the international break.
However, Swansea s momentum was halted by a disappointing showing in a 1-0 defeat at 10-man Watford last weekend.
We were disappointed to lose. We did not reach the levels of performance we would want, he said. I have spoken to the players and we think it was down to a lack of focus on what we are good at.
There are no excuses, they have responded well and been excellent this week. They know they need a response.
On his reunion with Martinez, Monk added: We were together here. We always have good conversations. We had lots of good games. Roberto is a good guy and it will be nice to see him.
Monk has a fully fit squad to choose from, while Martinez is hopeful that Muhamed Besic and Seamus Coleman (both hamstring) will be fit after the duo came off injured against Chelsea.
