Frank Lampard’s team take on Palace on Sunday after more-boosting win over Newcastle
Everton manager Frank Lampard was cautiously optimistic as he aimed to build on a morale-boosting win over Newcastle in the club’s bid to save their season.
Everton are locked in a Premier League relegation battle with Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Crystal Palace possibly a distraction, but Lampard hopes gaining any sort of momentum can be beneficial.
Thursday’s win was just the club’s fifth in all competitions since September with the manager stating that the boost it had given the squad should not be wasted.
“When you have a night like we had on Thursday, it’s important you take the benefits from it, which is an understanding of what winning feels like,” Lampard was quoted as saying by the Press Association.
“Here this season, we haven’t won enough games. There has been a losing feeling too much. The winning feeling and the togetherness and effort that goes into that is an important thing to move forward with.
“I don’t want to lean on that too much, though, because since I’ve been here, we’ve had some good wins and good performances that we haven’t backed up. We’ve got three points but that doesn’t mean we’re fine. We’re not. Hopefully the Newcastle win can be a change for us, but we have to make it work.
“One night like that is nothing on its own. Now the challenge is to back it up. To find that consistency in performance is the next step for us.”
Alex Iwobi scored in the ninth minute of stoppage time against Newcastle United.
Everton had been reduced to 10 men following a red card for midfielder Allan on 83 minutes but, roared on by a vociferous home crowd, found a winning moment as Iwobi combined with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and side-footed the ball into the net.
Everton move three points clear of the relegation zone with 25 points from 27 games, while Newcastle are in 14th place with 31 points from 29 matches.
Meanwhile, Patrick Vieira talked about the positivity around Crystal Palace ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Everton.
The Eagles are in the midst of a five-match unbeaten run, having held Premier League leaders Manchester City to a 0–0 draw on Monday.
Palace are 11th in the standings with nine games to go but the focus now is on FA Cup.
“There is a positive vibe around the football club about the confidence the players and staff have at the moment,” he said.
“We know how challenging it is and how difficult it is to maintain performances or win games against Premier League teams.
“We try to be really consistent in our behaviour and mood. When things are going well we’re the same as when things are not going as well as we wanted.”
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