Frank Lampard described Everton's final game of the season as a 'step too far' after they fell to a 5-1 defeat to Arsenal.
Six changes were made to his starting line-up, several of which were because of injuries and exhaustion as the Blues ended a relentless run of five games in 14 days, with Lampard explaining that Richarlison had played through injury in the comeback win against Crystal Palace that secured the club's Premier League status, and was left out of the matchday squad on Sunday as a result.
The Everton boss added Andre Gomes had also picked up an injury while Abdoulaye Doucoure was replaced during the first half after trying to play through a knock.
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Lampard suggested the performance was the result of the intense set of fixtures and the pressure carried by the squad as it fought for safety before achieving it amid remarkable scenes at Goodison Park in midweek. Jordan Pickford, Anthony Gordon, Vitalii Mykolenko and Seamus Coleman missed out along with Richarlison and Gomes.
Asked whether the changes were inspired by necessity or a desire to assess squad players at the Emirates, Lampard said: "It was a difficult couple of days on that front, from Thursday. We expended a lot of energy. Richarlison was injured going into the Palace game. He played with it. Andre Gomes was injured. Allan was injured - he has been for a while. So those three were out.
"Other players were already injured. Some players were on the bench today, Seamus, he has been fighting through stuff for the last month and has been incredible. He deserved a rest today. Tom Davies came back after not playing for a very long time. Doucoure had an issue in the warm up that he wanted to fight through but it was too difficult in the end.
"So, it's not excuses, it's just reality. Our big 'final' was on Thursday and we won it and today I think was just another step a little bit too far in the second half. We were in the game at half-time. I think the second half we saw, even with the goals - three set-pieces - it was a concentration issue, not being in the right position and not dealing with things. I think that is probably a reflection of the lads being a little bit [tired] after Thursday."
The necessity of the changes and the impact of the Palace victory mentally and physically meant Lampard was not seeking to analyse the performance in depth going into the summer break.
Asked whether he had learned anything from a display in which the Blues were dominated by Arsenal, he said: "It was a difficult game for the players to be fair and Arsenal were playing for something when the game started... I thought the intentions were good in terms of the dressing room before the game.
"There were some nice individual things, I thought Tom did well considering he has been out for a long time. I thought Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] did well. Sometimes for him it was a difficult afternoon but in moments he really showed his power and strength and got the assist for the goal. So there were some little cameo bits in there but I don't think it's anything for me to really shoehorn too much. The reflections for me will be on the three and half months since I've been here."
