Frank Lampard said the last minute goal Everton conceded in the club's 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers does not change his largely positive view of the performance.
The Blues boss said he was pleased with the effort and energy of his players and thought they displayed enough quality to have emerged with three points. But he accepted missed chances cost Everton dear and re-iterated it was his priority to address that in the January transfer window.
He concluded: "I thought we played a pretty good game, I thought we were the better team in the game and had relative control in the big parts of the game in terms of possession and chances. Unfortunately, if you are not clinical those things can happen in football and we got hit at the end."
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Everton had led through Yerry Mina's header only for Wolves to pull level through Daniel Podence. Neal Maupay and Anthony Gordon both had good chances but we’re thwarted by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa. As the game looked set to end in a draw, Rayan Ait-Nouri hit a stoppage time winner that led to boos from some sections of the home crowd upon the final whistle.
Speaking after the game, Lampard said:”The effort was there and the energy in the game was there. Boxing Day games are not easy, it is a funny time of the year, but the effort and energy and the quality of our play, there was enough to create chances to win the game I thought and so that's just the visuals of losing the game in the last minute as opposed to if we take our chances and win it.
"[If Everton had won] I think we would probably come away pretty pleased with that performance and it's three points, which we want and need, and obviously that flips. My feeling is it [the late goal] doesn't change what the performance was for me. The performance was enough to win the game.
"And by the way, Wolves are a good team, they are not a poor team, they are near the bottom of the table for different reasons but when you look at the starting team and what they can bring off the bench they are a really competitive team. We have got no right to play them off the park. I thought we played a good game and were unfortunate to lose, in simple terms.”
Asked what he thought about Everton’s lack of goals, Lampard said it was the priority area to address in the transfer window and said: “It is a concern because if you can't be clinical, and have some good chances in games and not just chances, situations around the box and the last pass and those bits, it's difficult because it doesn't give you the comfort in a game of being goals ahead and it's an obvious one, it's difficult.”
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