‘Can affect a player’ - Frank Lampard breaks down Wolves’ late match-winner vs Everton

Frank Lampard admitted that his Everton player felt the effects of pressure from the Goodison Park crowd which led to their stoppage-time defeat against Wolves.

The Toffees span to a 2-1 loss in their first game of the season after the break for the World Cup as fears of another relegation fight deepened.

Everton had gone ahead through Yerry Mina before Daniel Podence equalised in the first half. And in the dying embers, with the home fans desperate for a winner, the Blues dandered on the ball - which led to growing frustration from the stands.

An attempted long ball from James Tarkowski was cut out and Wolves launched a counter-attack that was finished off by Rayan Ait-Nouri.

The loss leaves Everton just one point and one place above the Premier League drop zone. And although Lampard felt his side did enough to win the game, he felt the Blues should have been more positive on the ball in that phase of play before giving away possession.

The Everton boss said: “I played for nearly 20 years so I know how it (pressure from the crowd) can affect a player. Of course, the better players have confidence in themselves to do what they want to do. I thought for 90 minutes of the game, I liked our decision-making. I think we could have moved it a little bit quicker at times in the first half but we had a good sense of control.

“With the last phase of the game, just before they scored, I think we should have been more positive and maybe hit a couple of diagonals because they were just back. In the end, we tried to go longer and they've counter-attacked and scored. It's easy for me to sit here and say the players should be making the right decisions we tell them but of course, it can have an effect."

Asked if Lampard spoke about the decision-making in the dressing room after the game, he replied: I can speak about those things but I didn't have a lot to say on that front today because absolutely the effort was there and energy in the game was there.

“Boxing Day games are not easy, it's a funny time of year, but the effort and energy was there and we had enough chances to win the game, I thought.

“The visuals of losing a game in the last minute rather than if we take our chances and win it, we come away and say we're pretty pleased with the performance we want and need.

“My feeling or vantage point on it is that it doesn't change the performance for me - and it was enough to win the game. Wolves are a good team. They're near the bottom for different reasons but when you look at their team and bench, they're a good team and we have no right to play them off the park. We played a good game and were unfortunate to lose, in simple terms.”