Nathan Patterson was given his second pre-season runout for Everton but it was a miserable night for the Scotland full-back and his Toffees team-mates as they went down to a 4-0 defeat by Minnesota United in America.
And afterwards a furious Frank Lampard pulled no punches as he delivered a damning verdict on the performance of his side, saying: “The players in the dressing room need to understand that they’ve put in a very poor performance individually and collectively."
The former England midfielder also warned they could be in another relegation dogfight next season having pulled off a great escape last season. He said: "If we don’t want to be in that situation again, they have to be better and I have to be better. As a club, it (the Minnesota game) reinforced the situation in terms of what we need to do with the squad, because it has to be stronger than what we saw tonight."
Lampard handed minutes to 23 players with Patterson, just as he did in the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in their first pre-season game, part of the XI that played in the first half. The MLS side, who are in the middle of their campaign, had scored two of their four goals by that stage.
In the player ratings by the Liverpool ECHO they said of Patterson: “He's still a player that will clearly need time in the side to get back up to speed following an extended period on the sidelines. He showed some good flashes throughout the first half in that sense, but there were also clearly some defensive aspects that need some work.”
Patterson suffered a frustrating time on Merseyside following his £12 million move from Rangers last season. He was hooked at half-time of a an FA Cup tie against Boreham Wood with the Blues toiling and then his season was put on hold following ankle surgery.
The 20-year-old featured in Scotland’s Nations League double header against Armenia last month and is now looking to kick on at Everton. The Goodison Park side face Lampard’s former club Chelsea in their English Premier League opener on August 6.
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