Frank Lampard has provided an update on Nathan Patterson’s fitness and declared that this is now the strongest Everton squad he’s been able to pick from since he came to the club. Patterson started Everton’s first seven Premier League matches this season before picking up an ankle injury playing for Scotland against Ukraine on September 24.
The 21-year-old came off the bench to replace captain Seamus Coleman and play the final 26 minutes of last Saturday’s goalless draw at Fulham and asked what condition Patterson is now in, Lampard said: “He’s ready to start, he came on last week and it’s more just my decision now of how ready to start he is.”
PRESS CONFERENCE BLOG: Frank Lampard press conference LIVE - team news, buildup ahead of Everton vs Leicester City
READ MORE: Leon Osman defends Farhad Moshiri and sends Everton takeover warning
Patterson was joined on the bench at Craven Cottage by Asmir Begovic, Mason Holgate, Michael Keane, James Garner, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Tom Davies, Dwight McNeil and Neal Maupay with Ben Godfrey now the only major absentee and Lampard admits that’s the best position he’s had personnel-wise during his tenure. He said: “This is the strongest squad I’ve been able to name since I’ve been at the club.
“We’ve got a pretty clean bill of health, fitness-wise now, we’ve got some competition in areas of the pitch that wasn’t there last season. That’s now for me to manage that and manage the squad, managing in-game and managing players that want to play more minutes because a good problem can sometimes give you other issues.
“Good players want to play. We can’t complain about feeling in a stronger position so it’s up to us to take that forward.”
READ NEXT
