Inside Everton's USA tour as Frank Lampard demands…

Inside Everton's USA tour as Frank Lampard demands grow and Nathan Patterson fitness noted

It was hotter in Wavertree than Washington DC on Wednesday but the heat in the US capital was still stifling.

Neither the shade nor the breeze that tickled the trees on the wide open avenues offered much respite from the humidity - but that did not stop the coaches from testing the players. The squad was worked hard in the morning session and this was clear as they returned to their hotel for lunch, several walking through the reception with bright red faces. There were plenty of smiles too though, spirits clearly high as the second week of pre-season continues.

Training was split into two sessions on Wednesday to avoid the worst of the heat. After work in the morning the squad made the 20-minute trip from their training to base to their hotel for a lunch served at 1pm and overseen by the club's head chef, who has travelled with the players. Then it was back out for more work on fitness and tactics.

The club is keeping it low key in Washington DC on the early days of this journey but is far from in hiding. They are staying close to the city centre and while there is no obvious sign of the presence of the Premier League outfit, it does not take long for evidence to appear in the shape of a staff member in a club-crested shirt going for a walk or a vehicle pulling from the drive with the famous Everton badge placed in the windscreen.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has spoken of enjoying the anonymity footballers are often afforded in the US but that will soon change as the club heads first to Baltimore to face Arsenal, then flies north for the game with Adrian Heath's Minnesota United.

While the trip is starting quietly, make no mistake, there is clear interest in the club's presence. The Washington Post has already interviewed Frank Lampard, while USA Today was due to speak with him on Wednesday evening and his media duties are piling up as the requests keep coming in. On Thursday, Lampard, who took his backroom staff on a run past the White House on Tuesday, will make a theatre appearance alongside a selection of first team players for a fan event. Tickets for that sold out long ago. Other members of the squad will attend the Washington Nationals' baseball game against the Atlanta Braves. The Nationals won the World Series as recently as 2019 and Leon Osman, now a global ambassador for Everton, will throw the ceremonial first pitch.

Among the fun and fan events there is still work to do, however. Lampard himself is clear on the main focus for the trip: "Work, hard work on the training pitch. Individually the priority always has to be what you can get out of it, what level can you get to at the end of this block of days, and the two games, so we will push the players because the season is going to come around very quickly this year."

Preparation for the new season is continuing with intensity as the club works on and off the pitch to get ready for the August 6 opener against Chelsea. Director of football Kevin Thelwell has remained on Merseyside so he can work on transfer business, while last season's Under-23s captain Ryan Astley's season-long loan to Accrington Stanley was confirmed on Wednesday evening.

Several academy prospects are on the tour and Lampard has suggested the door is open to first-team involvement for those who impress him, while efforts to help Andros Townsend recover from the injury that ended his season last March and to support Seamus Coleman after his summer surgery is ongoing on the trip.

Coleman is said to be on the 'brink' of availability for the opening game of the season. Nathan Patterson, who could get an opportunity as a result, has fully recovered after his own serious injury and was one of several players who looked in excellent shape upon returning from morning training on Wednesday.

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