Martinez insists all the pressure is on Belgium but his stars are relishing the challenge and ready to live up to the hype

THE expectation, says Roberto Martinez, is on his players.

Not just to come in from the fringes, but to seize the moment against England, and give him a selection headache ahead of the knockout stages.

In the wider context, with Germany out and several of the other superpowers looking distinctly beatable, the time is surely now for

Belgium to live up to the hype here in

Kaliningrad.

“I would say the expectations are on the players more than me,” said

Martinez. “The players have a quite unique situation.

“They are very young. They have left their environment and their comfort zone to go and play abroad and develop as human beings, as footballers.

“Then they come back to Belgium as big, big stars, as you can imagine. So the expectation is on the players more than anything.

“But what I am seeing is that they are enjoying that expectation. It’s not responsibility that affects them. It’s the opposite. They embrace it. They use it in a great manner.

“Especially in the last two games and maybe that’s a sign of maturity.”

The Red Devils have scored eight goals in their two matches so far, sticking three past Panama without reply and seeing off Tunisia 5-2.

Striker Romelu Lukaku will not play as he recovers from an injury picked up in that match. Martinez, however, remains confident his men are fired up to end England’s run of just one defeat in the 21 meetings between the two sides.

“These players now are in a very good moment of their careers,” added the former Everton manager.

“It’s a great sign when you see a player enjoying the expectations of the whole nation rather than seeing it as a chore and a pressure.

“There’s very good news on Lukaku. On the scan there was no further damage, but this game is probably one day too early.

“The group of players we have is a generation to be extremely proud of. Especially when Belgium has a population of 11million. We have some outstanding individuals.

“But the World Cup doesn’t respect individual talent. It only respects teams that work hard for each other as a team and a group.

“We have seen Germany getting eliminated, Argentina going close, Spain finishing first in the group in five minutes.

“That’s what the World Cup is, very small margins, and being ready for whatever the situation is in front of you.”