Everton boss Frank Lampard believes his side are confident of getting a result ahead of their clash with Leicester City tomorrow.
Hosting the clash at Goodison Park, Lampard hopes to take confidence from the victory over Manchester United.
Speaking to the media ahead of the game, he said: “It was a fantastic result against Manchester United, and one with a lot of good things from us but also some things we could improve on, I don’t think it was our best home performance against Manchester United.”
“The mood is confident and the lads are working very well.”
Leicester City F.C
The Blues boss praised the Foxes for the “tough battles” he has faced during his time in management and is aware of their threat ahead of the match.
“The collective of Leicester is well and truly strong enough to compete with any team in this league, and compete very well.
“I’ve seen that in the last two or three years while I’ve been working in the Premier League, battling with them for Champions Leagues places.
”Tough battles because they’ve got good quality.”
With Jamie Vardy ruled out of the game with injury, Lampard praised Leicester’s James Maddison who has scored eight Premier League goals this season.
“James Maddison’s a fantastic player, great ability levels, clever, smart player in high areas of the pitch, makes good assist, can finish, great at dead ball situations.
“A lot of respect for him, but there are others who can really cause us problems so we have to be aware of their threats.”
With home advantage and positive form at Goodison, Lampard praised the fans for their encouragement and unconditional support.
“We always get a helping hand from our fans, they’re such a huge support to us at Goodison.
“It’s important we tap into that and give something the crowd to get behind, and continue with the level of performance.”
Squad fitness
Lampard revealed defender Yerry Mina is back in contention to feature in the squad.
“Yerry will feature, he’s in the squad, its just making sure he’s fit enough and also analysing the games we’ve got left.”
Lampard illustrated the importance Mina brings to the squad, not just on a footballing level but also contributing to the squad’s morale.
“Great to have him back in, he’s a big personality in the dressing room, he’s a big player for us so we’re pleased to have him.”
The return of Fabian Delph also delighted Lampard, who he believes will be instrumental to the end of Everton’s turbulent season.
“I think experience and quality is what he brought to the team and that’s pretty priceless.
“We’ve had so many injuries, which has been one of the issues of trying to get some consistency.”
Lampard believes having more options to choose from to form his starting XI should make an overall positive impact on the last couple of months left of the season.
“We have strong players that are back in contention to play that I haven’t really been able to work with since being here.”
Sean Dyche
The Everton boss also paid tribute to relegation rival Sean Dyche who was sacked by Burnley last Friday.
“Sean Dyche has been an incredible manager [for Burnley], what he has done in the period of time he’s been there.
“I’m sure [he] deserved a bit of a rest and will get a fantastic job because of the level of manager he has showed himself to be.
“I wish all the best for Sean going forward on that.”
Since the dismissal of Dyche, many believe it is a positive for Everton in their relegation scrap, but Lampard disagrees.
He said: “This doesn’t change anything. Burnley are a good team, Burnley are used to fighting to stay in the PL and that fact will stay the same.”
Relegation battle
A win over the Foxes will increase Everton’s point tally to 31 and even more importantly, will extend the gap to 17th placed Burnley by six points.
“This may go towards the end of the season, that’s the reality of it and we just have to keep working week on week to tackle every game in front of us.
“At this stage of the season, results are key”
