Conor Coady has expressed his hunger to help Everton continue their impressive run under manager Frank Lampard as he insisted he "wants to do anything" to help the Blues.
The defender, who joined on a season-long loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers in August, scored his first goal for the Toffees during Saturday's 2-1 victory over Southampton at St Mary's. Having fallen behind to a Joe Aribo strike, Coady and fellow summer signing Dwight McNeil bagged their first goals for Everton as Lampard's men came from behind within the space of 120 seconds to claim their second consecutive victory and extend their unbeaten run in the division to six.
"Comeback wins always feel special but I feel like we deserved it," he told evertontv after the game. "I felt that for the majority of the game we were in control, we knew what we were doing, we had possession of the ball and emphasising our way of playing.
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"In the first half I actually feel like we could have gone up another level and been a little but more ruthless and relentless with it.
"But you have to dig in at times - you come to tough places and every game in the Premier League is a tough game, no matter who you come up against - especially away from home."
He added: "To come back like we did is really pleasing but you can see the togetherness of the boys, the supporters and the feeling around the place.
"We're trying to have possession more, we're trying to keep hold of the ball a little bit more and I think you saw that at times. We want to go again - we want to get better."
It's been an incredible return to Merseyside for Coady thus far, having grown up in St Helens and progressed through Liverpool's Kirkby academy for the early stages of his career, who departed the city to join Huddersfield Town in 2014. Later moving to Wolves, the 29-year-old blossomed during his seven-year spell in the West Midlands as he captained the Wanderers to the Championship title in 2018 and subsequently led them into their first European campaign since 1980 as they reached the Europa League quarter-finals in the spring of 2020.
At the heart of Wolves' renowned back-three, Coady earned the plaudits as became an ever-present figure at Molineux as he took Nuno Espirito Santo's side from strength to strength. However, after failing out of favour under his successor Bruno Lage, Coady finalised a temporary move to Goodison Park in order to seek regular playing opportunity as he looks to assure his place in England's squad for this winter's World Cup in Qatar.
With Lage switching to a back four at the start of the new campaign, Coady's excellence in a back three directed the 46-year-old into believing that his captain would be unfit to perform in a two-man partnership and was later pushed down the pecking order as summer signing Nathan Collins and Max Kilman took up starting roles.
But since his move to Goodison Park, Lampard's side have secured the second-best defensive record in the Premier League, with Manchester City (having played a game less at the time of writing) the division's only side to better the seven goals the Blues have conceded so far. At the heart of that defensive revival has been Coady and another summer signing James Tarkowski, who have added the much-needed leadership and experience to a fairly young Blues squad.
Together they have been able to guide young members of the Blues' squad, especially full-back pair Nathan Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko, and build solid foundations for the more expressive players to drive forward and trouble Premier League defences.
Meanwhile back in the Midlands, Wolves currently sit 18th in the Premier League and have only won one of their eight games so far this term. This led to Lage eventually being relieved of his duties on Sunday afternoon as he became the third manager to be sacked in the Premier League this season as Wolves' leaky defence and inability to create chances ultimately cost the former Benfica manager, even after he had ironically reverted to a back three.
But for Coady, having admittedly been a boyhood Liverpool supporter - and not to mention a former player - growing up, his arrival was understandably met with some scepticism from sections of the Toffees' supporters. Yet that would all change during the defender's first Merseyside derby clash representing the Blues, where he momentarily thought he had sealed Everton's first Goodison Park victory over Liverpool since October 2010.
Alas, Coady's goal was, after a passionate celebration, ruled out for offside as Jurgen Klopp's men left the Goodison Park gates with a solitary point for their drab showing. But that instalment of the Merseyside derby, which has rarely seen players cross the Stanley Park divide, proved to Evertonians that Coady was more than up for the challenge of helping Lampard build something special at Goodison Park.
"My eyes lit up, I'll be honest, when big Ama headed it down for me! I knew I was behind him, so I knew this one was definitely onside," he said speaking on his maiden strike for the club against Saints yesterday. "We're trying to get better and the manager is improving us. We need to keep listening to him every day because he's a brilliant manager."
And in a comment that will do even more to win over the Blue fanbase, Coady added: "It's the greatest feeling ever (scoring for Everton)...I want to do anything to help the team, whether it's a block on the line, a tackle, a goal at the other end...it's a real special feeling."
While it was only in September that former boss Rafa Benitez insisted he was doomed to fail at Goodison Park due to his previous ties with the red half of Merseyside, it appears Coady is using his previous connections as a burning incentive to win over the hearts of those in the Goodison Park stands. And if his first seven outings are anything to judge, Everton have themselves a fine leader of men amongst their ranks.
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