Frank Lampard needs players to ‘feel belief’ as Everton prepare to face extra-motivated Manchester City

Frank Lampard has stressed the important of a shift in belief if Everton are to improve this season and expressed his excitement at giving Manchester City ‘a real proper game’ on Saturday.

The Everton manager has overseen two commanding wins at Goodison Park since taking over in January, but a woeful away record and two defeats at Newcastle United and Southampton have brought the players’ mentality into question.

But Lampard says that shifting that belief is a long and hard process, not something that can be turned on like the flick of a switch.

Speaking to Evertontv, Lampard said: “It’s about belief – and the players need to feel that themselves.

“There will be times you’re up against it and, as a group, we need to feel belief.

“It’s not a slant on the group because, when you’ve been losing games, it’s tough to turn that corner as a bad period in a game can remind them of those matches.

“It’s very easy to seep back into the ways of playing the ball longer and the team getting stretched.

“They are the things we [the new coaching team] addressed very quickly when we came in here and, in difficult moments, we’ve seen them come back.

“There is no magic wand to change things instantly and you need to work and focus every day. You’re only as good as how you work and prepare. Until this point, I think we’ve got that right.

“But a game like we’ve had against Southampton is a reminder of why we’re in the position we’re in.”

City on the horizon

Everton have been outstanding at Goodison Park during Lampard’s short tenure, but it doesn’t get much harder than this weekend when they welcome Premier League leaders Manchester City to Merseyside.

Pep Guardiola’s side lost to Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend but had won 14 out of 15 in all competitions previous to that and seemed unstoppable.

The current champions will have the bit between their teeth this weekend but Toffees manager Lampard is looking forward to taking them on.

“I’ll do everything I can to get a reaction [from the Southampton defeat],” Lampard said.

“The squad are a good bunch and they want to do the right things. We’ve seen that in two of the performances since I’ve been here.

“I’m confident. We’ll work hard during the week. We’re playing the best team in the league – possibly the best team in the world – but we have to use that as a carrot for us to bring them to Goodison and give them a real proper game.”