Frank Lampard has hinted that he will make changes to his Everton side for Thursday’s FA Cup clash against Boreham Wood.
The Blues’ poor run of form in the Premier League continued on Saturday after they were beaten 1-0 by leaders Manchester City at Goodison Park.
Phil Foden was City’s match-winner after he pounced on a mistake from Michael Keane with just eight minutes of normal time remaining.
But Everton were denied a chance of a deserved equaliser when referee Paul Tierney and VAR Chris Kavanagh failed to award what looked a clear-cut penalty for handball against Rodri.
The defeat leaves Lampard's side just one point above the drop zone, although they do have games in hand on the teams above them.
But attention now turns to Thursday’s FA Cup cup tie at Goodison and the Blues boss has suggested he could freshen things up.
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“The main thing is how we played – and that’s not just for the ones of the pitch, but the players who didn’t feature,” Lampard said after the loss to City.
“Some who didn’t play today will play in the FA Cup. They need to play to that level and take that forward. There were things I saw when I came here that I could see clearly had to get better – the fundamentals in our game.
“A lot of things I see are now a lot better, especially in the home games. Once we get over the disappointment of the result, we need to drive ourselves to [regularly] deliver something like that performance against City.
“If we do, we’ll have a great chance to get where we want to be this season, then we’ll take it forward.”
Despite the defeat, Everton’s players were clapped off by their supporters for the effort they put in.
“That’s a big deal for us. As staff, we’ve been here for a short time and I’ve felt a real uplift,” Lampard told evertontv.
“The results don’t exactly say that as much as they should, but I think the fans are feeling it, especially at Goodison.
“We need to address our performances away from home but, when we have that backing and the players put that effort in and do the basics Everton fans demand, they will clap you off.
“Hopefully both sides – players and fans – can take some good feelings out of the game once we get over the fact the chance of getting a draw was taken away from us.”
The Everton manager continued: “You can’t run around like headless chickens because, as they’re so good on the ball, they’ll commit you and pass around you, so if you press without any thought process, it won’t work.
“The lads did brilliantly in terms of the organisation. We set up in a certain way, where we wanted to allow some things – some deep possession from them and through the sides – and then be really quick in how we deal with it.
“When you come in mid-season, there are a lot of asks. There is the basic ask of ‘run more’, there’s the ask of being in the right condition to do that, and then there’s the ask of doing it in a good, organised way. The players ticked all those boxes and we have to take that forward.”
