Martinez retains faith in Scotland

Having been prolific over the last two seasons in League One and the Championship, Scotland has failed to score in 20 Premier League games this term since following Martinez to Wigan from Swansea in July. The Trinidad & Tobago international squandered some of Latics' best opportunities in Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Everton and now faces a fight to retain his place in the team after the arrival of Victor Moses and Marcelo Moreno at the DW Stadium. But with neither Moses nor Moreno eligible to make their debut in Tuesday nnight's FA Cup fourth-round replay against Notts County, Scotland - who finally broke his Wigan duck in the original tie at Meadow Lane - is likely to get another chance to prove his worth and Martinez is convinced the 30-year-old can still be a success at the club. "His work-rate has been exceptional, as has his link-up play, but his biggest asset is scoring goals," Martinez said. "At the moment he is creating the chances and getting in great positions and he hasn't been able to score, but it would be a bigger worry if he hadn't been able to create the chances. "He is a very strong character and he's in a perfect moment of his career - at 30, he's capable of coping with anything that comes his way. "I can see day by day he is becoming a stronger and a better footballer, and the goals will come, it is only a matter of time. "I'm just focusing on him creating chances for himself and creating chances for the others, and allowing us to have that link-up play that is so effective for ourselves. "I'm not going to judge a player by the chances he misses - I'm going to judge a player by the chances he creates and the overall contribution to the team." With the Everton defeat leaving them just two points above the relegation zone, Premier League survival is Wigan's undoubted priority for the remainder of the campaign, although Martinez denied Tuesday night's replay was an unwanted distraction. The Latics followed up their third-round victory over Hull with a league win at Wolves and the manager believes that every match is vital in generating confidence and momentum. "It is important now that we look to every game to carry on building, to make sure we get something positive out of it and that could kick-start us for the end of the season," he said. "Every game must be a positive one and we have a big enough squad now to go into the games with confidence of being competitive in every single one." League Two side County almost pulled off a giant-killing in the initial match 10 days ago after going in at half-time 2-0 up. Wigan fought to pull the scores back level after the break and Martinez is expecting another feisty cup tie at the DW Stadium. "You approach the FA Cup knowing that it is a one-off situation," he said. "You need to be as good as you can be and there is no margin for error. "All the credit needs to go to Notts County, but the way we reacted in the second half and the way we got back into the game showed a lot of good things on our part. "We are looking forward to the replay, it's going to be an exciting game. "It's a unique opportunity for both football clubs to get into the fifth round and it's going to be a typical FA Cup encounter."