LIVERPOOL -- Roberto Martinez has called on his Everton side to overcome the fear factor that is dragging them towards relegation trouble.
Martinez's side are in a good position to qualify for the Europa League quarterfinals after a 2-1 round of 16 first-leg win over Ukrainian Premier League leaders Dynamo Kiev on Thursday.
But Everton are just six points above the relegation zone after winning one of their last 12 Premier League matches.
Martinez says he saw two performances from his team against Kiev -- one that was nervous and fearful in the opening 20 minutes as they went behind, and one that was confident for the remainder of the game as they fought back to establish a narrow first-leg lead.
He wants to see more of the confident Everton when they host Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday.
Martinez said: "There was not a tactical or a technical change between the first 20 minutes and the next hour.
"It's a real psychological thing about how you enjoy your football, being free, having a quick tempo, rather than having an approach of too much responsibility, and being fearful.
"That's been the difference this season. The moment we overcome that, we'll become a really strong team because the talent is there, and the experience is becoming very useful."
Everton have collected 28 points from 28 matches -- their lowest total at this stage of a season in the Premier League era.
A tally of 40 points is generally accepted to be enough for survival, as only four teams have been relegated in a 38-match top-flight season after reaching that total -- Sheffield Wednesday in 1990, Sunderland in 1997, Bolton in 1998 and West Ham in 2003.
Martinez, though, has refused to set a points target for his team, preferring instead to concentrate on getting the performances right.
He said: "We need to win on Sunday. That's the only thing that matters now.
"From our point of view, it would be wrong to set a points target, when what we need to produce is the level of performance to give us the points we deserve.
"Look at last night's game: If we perform in the manner that we did in the first 20 minutes, we're not going to get the points that we want.
"If we play in the manner we did in the next 60 minutes, we're going to get many strong performances and many points.
"That's the focus: How quickly we can get our performances in the league to replicate that freedom, that enjoyment, that high tempo, that bravery that we showed in the last hour of that game."
Left-back Leighton Baines, who has played just once since the end of January, will have a late fitness test on a groin problem, while central defender John Stones is expected to be fit after missing the game against Kiev with a virus.