Frank Lampard will probably be fairly satisfied with the lack of Everton players called up for international duty over the current break. Of course, some of that will point to the poor form of his squad - which is obviously less than ideal - but it means he can keep the majority under his watchful eye this week.
There's no escaping the palpable feeling that this could be a crucial period of the run-in. Other sides across the Premier League are gearing up for the fight ahead - some with either much more experience of being in these positions in the past, or with a fair amount of confidence thanks to their recent results.
While Everton might have some of the latter attribute, the match against Crystal Palace will have made a fair dent in that. It doesn't matter if it was in the FA Cup, a side near the relegation zone should be trying to avoid 4-0 defeats as much as they possibly can, that much is obvious.
