Frank Lampard has admitted that Everton's dramatic late point earned against Leicester City could be psychologically key in the coming days of the relegation battle.
After the Blues struggled in the opening stages on Wednesday evening at Goodison Park and conceded to Harvey Barnes' early strike, Richarlison scored in added time at the end of the match to save what could be a valuable draw. That put Lampard's side four points ahead of Burnley once more at the bottom of the table with both sides having played the same amount of games.
The Clarets are in action on Thursday as they take on Southampton at Turf Moor, but even a victory for them won't elevate them above Everton in the Premier League standings. And Lampard admitted that could be crucial for his side, especially considering the difficult fixtures they have on the horizon.
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He told his post-match press conference: "That's the beauty of the point. Psychologically that can help.
"We also have to understand the games that are ahead of us. Anyone who watched Liverpool last night [vs Manchester United] will understand the challenge coming up this weekend, and then Chelsea come here.
"We have to understand that the table might continue to look somewhat like it does for the next couple of weeks. And then we can look at the fixtures going on from that.
"But, for the players, they just have to focus game-by-game - because anything can happen in football. That's why I'm not talking us down before Liverpool, because we have to go there with the belief and spirit to try and do something.
"So the idea of a point keeping us outside the bottom three for the next 24 or 48 hours is obviously a good one."
Everton didn't perform as they had wanted throughout the 90 minutes at Goodison, but they were able to secure a draw despite that. Lampard admitted that is something the Blues haven't been able to do often this season, and was pleased with the fact that his side didn't let the good feeling of their Manchester United result fall by the wayside.
"It's something we want to change. As the chances were coming and going at the end of the game - Seamus had a good chance and it got away from him, Richy had a great chance - you worry," he added.
"Something we haven't been able to do well in my time here, and before, is draw games when we're not playing as well as we should do. I think that was the case in the first half today, not the second.
"And then other games recently like West Ham and Burnley where our performances were pretty good, we could get points but we get nothing. So important that the players feel that and know that we're in games.
"As long as we stay in games, and we keep fighting, anything is possible. It's the bounce of coming off a win against Manchester United to get another point on the board."
