Everton captain Phil Jagielka has defended boss Roberto Martinez by admitting players cannot only take credit for good performances but must shoulder a fair share of blame for poor ones too.

Unhappiness with Martinez grew to its highest level after a late collapse from 2-0 up against West Ham saw them lose 3-2 in the Premier League, with Kevin Mirallas sent off.

Reports also began emerge claiming the players were losing faith in Martinez's open approach to football and wanted to be more pragmatic at times.

"In that position you are judged on how you affect the game and unfortunately, with the way criticisms went and what happened last week, conceding three goals in the last 12 minutes, obviously people were quick to forget we were down to 10 men for the majority of the game," said Jagielka.

"Obviously the manager has to take some responsibility because that's his role but to the same extent, we're the people out on the pitch and we have to perform.

"You can't throw all the blame the manager's way, there has to be a pretty even split between him and the players.

"I understand that people will do that, because that's the way football is."