Lampard insists Everton have turned a corner after saying team lacked “b*******”

Everton remain in a relegation battle after losing at West Ham but Frank Lampard praised his players seven days after taking aim at them following their FA Cup exit

Frank Lampard hailed Everton’s mentality in their defeat at West Ham – a week after he slammed his players for the same thing.

The Toffees were undone in east London as the Hammers secured a 2-1 win which keeps the Merseyside outfit teetering above the relegation zone. Lampard is trying to retain the club’s top flight status having been hired earlier this year, but he inherited a side severely lacking in confidence.

Everton were dumped out of the FA Cup last week and Lampard was less than impressed with their application – questioning whether they were up for the challenge after their loss at Crystal Palace. He said: “You’re playing at the cut-throat end of football; this is the FA Cup quarter-finals. If you haven’t got the confidence to play, you can flip it and say: ‘Have you got the b******* to play?’ Apologies but that’s the football term.”

Seven days on though and the Chelsea legend has changed his tune. Everton levelled the contest at the London Stadium as Mason Holgate notched before Jarrod Bowen scored a second-half winner. Nevertheless Lampard was satisfied with how his players acted.

He said: “We weren’t so good at Palace but passion and desire has been there. Not many teams do it every week. The reason we are in this position is that we want to get better. Today it was there and this is a tough place to come.”

Lampard is dealing with several injuries while Michael Keane was sent off and faces a suspension, but the Everton boss maintains his focus is not on the absent players but instead on the mindset of the squad. He claimed: “We are stretched. I am less worried about personnel and more worried about the character of the group. What I saw today showed that.

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” Burnley is a huge game no doubt, but there are nine more after that. We have games in hand on other teams but we must stick to the next game. Burnley is absolutely the most important at the minute and we have to show more quality – and there is that in this group – to stay up.”

Everton are currently four points above Burnley having played the same amount of games. The Clarets have long staved off the threat of relegation but have spent the majority of the season sat in the bottom three. The Toffees meanwhile remain one of the Premier League ever presents, but that status is now in serious jeopardy.