Andros Townsend was happy for Salomon Rondon to be the man to put Everton through to the FA Cup quarter-finals, after feeling the striker’s contribution had gone under the radar.
Rondon scored twice against Boreham Wood on Thursday night to earn Frank Lampard’s side a place in the last eight of the FA Cup, taking his tally to three goals this term.
Though the Blues dominated proceedings, it took until the second half for Everton to finally break the deadlock against the non-league side - and it was the Venezuelan who opened the scoring with a first-time finish at the near post.
Doubling the team’s lead with a header, a few minutes from time, Townsend insists that Rondon’s efforts have been far from under-appreciated by the rest of the squad this season.
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“Anyone who has played with Salomon for six months and trained with him on a daily basis knows he always gives his all,” Townsend told Evertonfc.com .
“He’s fought for every ball, he’s attacked every ball, he’s pressed every ball and he’s been a credit to himself.
“Maybe he’s not had the credit on the outside because of his goalscoring tally, but we fully appreciate him and we know that when he’s playing, we’ve got a good outlet – and he proved that tonight.
“Whenever he gets the opportunity again, hopefully he can keep slotting them away.”
The win sets up a quarter-final clash away at Crystal Palace later this month, which will see the winger return to his former side, and provides a chance for Everton to build confidence that can be transferred to their league form.
Townsend believes it will be a tough test for the Blues but conceded that both clubs will be happy to have avoided teams higher up the league table, as they look to book a semi-final place at Wembley.
The former England international was aware that some Everton fans would have expected an easier game against Boreham Wood - but Townsend credited the club for providing a resolute challenge.
“Some people might have been expecting it to be four or five-nil but, having watched their game in the previous round, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” the 30-year-old said. “We knew we had to be at our best if we wanted to break them down.
“Nowadays, every team is fit, every team can run and is tactically aware.
“It took us to 50 or 60 minutes to get the breakthrough and then we let our quality show. Credit to Boreham Wood, they showed amazing fight.
“We knew it was going to be tough, but we got the job done and we’re through to the quarter-finals. That’s the main thing.”
