Frank Lampard praised Tom Davies for his performance against Aston Villa after he was brought on despite having only had limited time back in training.
Everton's options in midfield have been weakened by an injury list that got bigger when Abdoulaye Doucoure suffered a hamstring problem just over half an hour into the game. Lampard's options were new signing Amadou Onana, whose transfer from Lille had disrupted his training, and Davies, who was returning from a calf injury.
While Everton fell to a 2-1 defeat, Lampard praised the efforts of Davies, whose key moments included a crucial tackle on Ollie Watkins as he drove past players during a dangerous Villa counter attack.
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Davies' substitute appearance was his first since he scored in the pre-season friendly at Blackpool. He missed the friendly with Dynamo Kyiv and the opening game of the Premier League season against Chelsea before returning to make the bench on Saturday.
Injuries to Allan and Andre Gomes meant Alex Iwobi and Doucoure were already paired in a makeshift central midfield partnership. When Doucoure came off, Lampard felt Davies was his best option. He said: "I thought Tom did well. It was not an easy game to come into. Tom had a small calf injury in the last couple of weeks, was back in training a few days, [then with] the conditions with the heat, he missed a lot of last season, he was the only sub I could really make in the six because Amadou couldn’t play 65 minutes, so I think he did really well considering."
Onana later came on and showed promise in the final 10 minutes - playing a key role in the Lucas Digne own goal that offered Everton a route back into the game. This was particularly impressive after his training schedule was hit by the time it took to complete his move from Lille just days earlier.
Lampard explained: "He has had a special programme the last few days. There has been a little bit in with the team, a fair bit of individual work that we can control because injury is obviously the worry in those early days. But now after getting on there, he can train fully with the team with maybe a little bit of top up. We need to get him there quickly because we want him in and around it."
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