Demarai Gray has described Everton’s draw with Manchester City on Saturday as a “massive boost” in their attempt to arrest a poor run of results and pull away from relegation trouble.
Gray’s spectacular 64th-minute equaliser secured a point for Frank Lampard’s side at the Etihad Stadium – it was only their second point from the last possible 15 and followed the damaging 2-1 defeat by Wolves at Goodison Park on Boxing Day.
“It will be a massive boost for the squad on the back of the last performance,” said Gray. “Manchester City are one of the best in the world so credit to us, we showed our quality and thanks to the fans, obviously, supporting us all the way through but as a team we take that performance into the next game. On the back of our last performances, football-wise it was a massive improvement.
“Obviously when you come to the Etihad you have to change your gameplan a little bit but we stuck to it well. We got our reward with the goal and after that we dug deep, so there are a lot of positives to take. I don’t think it’s just when we play City, it’s part of our character and the club’s DNA, fighting and digging deep for results. We left everything out there.”
Everton next host Brighton on Tuesday and Gray is insistent that the players remain behind Lampard and are determined to endure a second successive campaign spent fighting the drop, after surviving last season with one game to spare. “We have gone through a lot of tough moments,” the 26-year-old said. “Last season we showed our character and don’t want to be in that situation again this year.
“It’s been a bit up and down but we have shown a real quality with our performances this season, it’s just about keeping our standards high and performing to that sort of level as much as we can and if we do that we will get more good results.”
Dominic Calvert-Lewin impressed against City in his first start since late October after long-term injury problems. “He is a massive part of our gameplan,” Gray said of the centre-forward. “It was one of those games where you can’t really do much attacking-wise, he had to put in a shift and work for our moments but it’s good to have him out there and I am happy for him to get some minutes.
“He has had a tough time. It’s unfortunate because he has done everything right, he looks after himself. He has had a bit of bad fortune so I am happy to have him back.”
Lampard, meanwhile, has called on his players to replicate the way they performed against City in the game against Brighton. “We need the same approach regarding mentality and work ethic: this has to be standard but also it is a very good possession team who will play,” he said. The manager is hopeful the knee injury Michael Keane suffered during the warm-up on Saturday does not keep the defender out of action for too long.
