Everton boss Frank Lampard admits his side are in a battle but urges them to ‘keep fighting’

Everton boss Frank Lampard admits his side are in a battle but urges them to ‘keep fighting and looking forward’ after the Toffees suffered a 3-2 defeat to fellow strugglers Burnley

• Everton suffered a 3-2 defeat to fellow league strugglers Burnley on Wednesday
• Frank Lampard’s side took a 2-1 lead heading into the break but slipped to a loss
• Jay Rodriguez and Maxwel Cornet clinched all three points for the Clarets
• The Toffees now find themselves just one point above the relegation zone 

By Isabel Baldwin For Mailonline

Everton boss Frank Lampard urged his side to ‘keep fighting’ after they slipped closer to the relegation zone with a 3-2 defeat to Burnley. 

Nathan Collins scored early for the hosts, but two Richarlison penalties — the second of which was heavily disputed by Burnley boss Sean Dyche — saw Everton take control. 

The Toffees took a 2-1 lead into the break but Jay Rodriguez’s second-half equaliser and Maxwel Cornet’s dramatic late winner clinched the three points for Burnley. 

Lampard’s side now sit just one point ahead of Burnley and the relegation zone with nine games left to play. 

Everton boss Frank Lampard urged his side to ‘keep fighting’ after a 3-2 defeat to Burnley

Everton now find themselves just one point above the relegation zone, and opponents Burnley

But the Blues boss urged his side to keep fighting, he told Sky Sports: ‘We got into good areas but we were not clinical enough. At that point you always leave the game open, then we make mistakes for their goals.

‘Listen, the players have to work and fight to get through this if it’s a lack of confidence. We are in a battle. If we didn’t know it, we do now. We’re still above Burnley in the table so we have to keep fighting and looking forward.

‘All the teams around us are in similar positions. You look at the results it’s why we are where we are, because of results over a long period and the same for other teams around us.’

Maxwel Cornet scored the winner for Burnley in their thrilling 3-2 victory against Everton

Lampard insisted the Toffees’ could be ‘relatively happy’ with their performance in the first half amid a tense atmosphere but admitted crucial moments after the break let his side down.

Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: ‘I anticipated the atmosphere, because of the league positions, I expected that and I thought we handled it well in the first half, particularly the reaction to going 1-0 down.

‘With the first half we could be relatively happy. You have to deal with certain things coming to Burnley, particularly on a night like this. I thought we dealt with them well in the first half. But those crucial moments in the second half changed the game.

Nathan Collins opened the scoring in the first-half, having arrived late at the far post

Richarlison tucked home a neat penalty to fire the visitors level just a matter of minutes later

‘Our players have to keep going, they’re not silly. They know that they have to keep going, we have nine games to go. We’re just above the zone so if we didn’t know we were in a fight before then we certainly know now.

‘There are nine games where we have to give absolutely everything, every ounce that we have. I will certainly do that and everybody has to do the same.

‘It doesn’t feel nice tonight, but we have to understand we have a game in three days time and more games after that to get enough points to stay in this league. That’s what’s there to fight for.’

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