Frank Lampard reckons Amadou Onana is going to be “a big player” for Everton but has warned that he needs to show patience with his new signing in his early weeks at the club in order to get the best out of him over a longer period. The £33.5million signing from Lille came off the bench after 81 minutes for his debut in last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa and could make his home bow against Nottingham Forest tomorrow.
Lampard said: “Amadou is certainly in contention and that’s a call for me to make and I’m giving it as long as I possibly can until before the game tomorrow because as much as we want his impact, and we think he’s going to have a big impact as you saw a glimpse of that, we need to do the right thing by the player and the team. He’d really missed big chunks of pre-season and this is the Premier League.
“I don’t want to throw him in there too soon, I want to use him at the right time and the right minutes so that’s something we’ll be managing over the next couple of weeks. I don’t want an injury situation either so it’s important to get that one right for the longer picture.
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“He has a real big presence. He’s settled in really quickly, he’s a very good team-mate, straight in with the lads, gives off a very good energy as such.
“Every day in training he’s good with his voice for a young player, he’s a smart boy, I knew him well by the time he arrived here and I think he’s going to be a big player for us but it’s the start for him and we have to be that little bit patient but he’s settled in brilliantly.”
Everton will have to make at least one change in midfield from their previous match having lost Abdoulaye Doucoure to a hamstring injury with the player being replaced by Tom Davies. Lampard said: “ Allan’s fit, Allan’s in the squad, he’s back, he’s missed games in pre-season, obviously we’ve missed that part, trying to get him match-fit but he’s a really good pro, he’s fit and ready to go. Doucoure is probably going to be about three weeks from now.”
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