BREAKING NEWS

Manager On Team News And Brentford

Frank Lampard has revealed Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss Everton’s fourth-round FA Cup tie against Brentford at Goodison Park on Saturday (3pm GMT) with a “small knock” but expects the striker to return to training at USM Finch Farm in the coming days.

Lampard explained Calvert-Lewin sustained a minor injury in Everton’s game against Aston Villa last time out.

The new Blues boss added he is hopeful the England frontman will be available for the Blues’ upcoming Premier League games. Everton take on Newcastle United at St James' Park on Tuesday 8 February before hosting Leeds United at Goodison four days later.

Yerry Mina, meanwhile, took part in full training on Thursday after returning from international duty with Colombia.

Everton will be without injured midfield trio Abdoulaye Doucoure (groin), Fabian Delph (thigh) and Tom Davies (hamstring) for Saturday’s game.

Transfer deadline day signings Donny van de Beek and Dele are ineligible for the Cup match, having featured in the previous round of the competition for Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Anwar El Ghazi is also cup-tied having played in the third round for Aston Villa.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Lampard said: “Dominic Calvert-Lewin picked up a small knock in the last game, so he won’t be available for this weekend.

“We know Abdoulaye Doucoure is out, as well as Fabian Delph and Tom Davies – they will be out for a slightly longer [than Calvert-Lewin].

“With Dominic, we hope he can be back and outside training in the next days and ready for the games coming up.

“We obviously have some players who are cup-tied [Dele and van de Beek] but other than that we are in pretty good shape. I’m happy with where we are at.”


Upon being announced as Everton’s new boss on Monday, Lampard hailed the “passion and intensity” he felt from the crowd when visiting Goodison as an opposing player and manager.

Lampard says he is relishing the opportunity to experience the full backing of Evertonians when he takes charge of the Toffees for the first time on Saturday.

He added: “The fans have such a big input at this club, especially at Goodison. I felt that on the reverse side.

“We will be defined for the rest of the season by the work we do on the training pitch and how we can be united as staff, players, the Club and fans. 

“The next step from that is results. I’ll try to bring all that together.

"And what could be better than the atmosphere we’ll hopefully get at Goodison on Saturday?

“It’s the opportunity to get in the next round of a cup that the Club has a glorious history in. With the talent we’ve got in the squad, we want to go as far as we can in this competition and then carry on that momentum. It’s a big game for us in that sense.”

Frank Lampard
The fans have such a big input at this club, especially at Goodison. What could be better than the atmosphere we’ll hopefully get on Saturday?


Everton will face a Brentford side who have impressively transitioned to Premier League football following promotion from the Championship last term.

Lampard outlined his admiration for Bees boss Thomas Frank’s work, while insisting his Everton players must seek to impose themselves in Saturday’s game and trust their qualities.

“Brentford are a very good team,” he added. “It is a very well-constructed team and they’ve got a lot of talent. 

“They have great organisation and a philosophy that goes throughout the club, which the manager harnesses brilliantly. 

“It will be a very tough match and we have to be at our absolute best. We will prepare, organise and give the players all the information they need. 

“When you have the team we have…of course, we must understand Brentford are a very good side, but we have to focus on ourselves.”