'Two-way thing' - Frank Lampard reflects on Everton…

'Two-way thing' - Frank Lampard reflects on Everton fans' reaction to Wolves defeat and doubles down on verdict

Frank Lampard has accepted that the manner of Everton's home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers was difficult to stomach - but insisted that his players had performed well and deserved more.

Rayan Ait-Nouri's last-gasp winner completed a 2-1 turnaround for the visitors, who had arrived on Merseyside with new manager Julen Lopetegui bottom of the table.

But as the Blues, who now sit just a point above Wolves and the relegation placed, prepare to face Premier League champions Manchester City this weekend, Lampard is confident that his players can bounce back and had performed well in the Boxing Day defeat.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, the Blues boss said: "It's the hardest way to lose a game. One that you believe that you deserve to win. We played a pretty good game. I felt it watching at the time and I felt it more watching it back. We were very good off the ball, particularly in the first half, and made it very difficult for Wolves to create anything against us. And we had our chances to be winning the game.

"It's a cruel way to lose a game and I have to feel for the players in that sense, because they gave everything. But we have to bounce back, that's what football is all about. They don't come tougher than what we've got in front of us [Man City] but at the same time we can't forget the good things that we did in the game [against Wolves] and go [there] with a sense of belief, pride and confidence.

"Sometimes a goal at the end of a game can change the whole feeling and rhetoric of a game. That's very normal. Our job is to see the football side very clearly. I think the players did everything we wanted against Wolves, barring scoring goals that should have put us in a more comfortable position and being more clinical. We know that's been a problem recently. And also allowing a counter-attack in the last minute of the game - a transition."

Evertonians could not hide their anger at the final whistle on Boxing Day, as Wolves supporters celebrated their team climbing off the bottom of the table with a result that was equally important for the Midlands side as it was damaging for Everton.

But Lampard feels that the performance must be looked at with the emotion of the result removed, so that his players can go again with a positive mindset at second-placed City tomorrow.

Lampard said: "It's normal that the fans are disappointed - as we all are - after that result and the nature of it in the last minute. I think the moments towards the end of the game, you see it very often in football. I saw it in a lot of the World Cup games, when teams are trying to find a way to break a team down that's just sitting back, comfortable with what they've got and you try to make passes to find the right angles. Maybe we got it slightly wrong in that moment, but not to a massive degree. That transition was a different thing.

"We understand from last year, from the moment that I came in how strong the club was when we were very positive and very together. As I always say, it's a two-way thing. We have to perform. I believe we did against Wolves. And the crowd will back us and that makes us a strong unit."

Looking ahead to facing Pep Guardiola's side, Lampard added: "You have to understand how the game may look, work in that way in terms of our preparation and give everything and be ready to work, remain organised defensively, because they have such great attacking strengths , and also have a belief that we can go there and impose ourselves on them in our own way. It's a tough game, but they are the challenges that the Premier League gives you as a player and a coach."

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