Frank Lampard says Everton must believe in their ability to “go toe-to-toe with anybody” ahead of a Premier League visit from champions Manchester City on Saturday.

Manager Lampard has overseen victories in both Goodison Park fixtures since he was appointed last month.

Both wins have been directly followed by defeats on the road, however, and the former Chelsea boss admits reversing a poor run of away form is high on the priority list.

First on the agenda, however, is a game against top-of-the-table City, who boast 20 wins and three draws from 26 league fixtures this term.

Optimism over a return to Goodison, then, is keeping company with knowledge of the ferocity of this weekend’s challenge.

“We won’t ever isolate home games [to target points],” said Lampard.

“It hasn’t been good enough away from Goodison all season and I see things that need to be improved on that front.

“We need to get our heads down and work on the training pitch and try to pick up results.

“We have to be very organised and aggressive and prepared to put in the workmanlike performance it takes against Manchester City, then take our opportunities to do positive things when we have the ball.

“They generally have more possession than everybody, sometimes by a lot, so we have to understand how the game will look and be ready.

“We can’t put all our eggs in the basket of this being a game changer. But I want to see an approach and belief that we can go toe-to-toe with anybody, and who knows what the game will bring?

“Our away record is something we must address.

“But let’s give the fans a reason to get behind us against City, like they have in my two [Goodison] games to really good effect.

“If we can get a positive result, great, then I want to tackle the problems we’ve been having away.

“These will be difficult games [City, then Tottenham away next week] and I won’t change my mindset; whether or not we get positive results in both, there is a long way to go.”

The issue of confidence inevitably surfaced as Lampard addressed his team’s up-and-down displays during a pre-match press conference on Friday.

Everton defeated Brentford and Leeds by three-goal margins following fast starts in Lampard’s opening two home matches.

They found it difficult to muster responses, however, after falling behind in the visits to Newcastle United and Southampton this month.

“I came into the situation knowing it wouldn’t be plain sailing and a process of win, win, win,” said Lampard.

“We won’t be derailed from what we’re working towards by results, because it is very difficult to get results in this league.

“The players have been good and positive and confident and we will work towards the game tomorrow.

“When you are playing at this level, you don’t expect to wave a magic wand and get results.

“You want to work in steps and bring progress and I’ve seen that.

“I’ve certainly seen it behind the scenes... and we’ve seen it in two really good performances.

“But we’ve seen some of our weaknesses in the two defeats, some of that was reverting to things I saw before I came and want to correct.

“But they can’t be corrected in one go.

“I am pleased with the progress and believe the group can produce the results and performances we need.”

Lampard is preparing for his fourth managerial duel with City boss Pep Guardiola.

The Everton boss avenged a 2-1 away defeat with victory by the same scoreline in the reverse fixture when in charge of Chelsea in 2019/20, and there was a 3-1 home loss to the eventual champions shortly before Lampard left Stamford Bridge last term.

“You learn a lot every time you go up against him [Guardiola],” added Lampard.

“It is a complete team, a team worked on by a fantastic coach for a long period of time, a team that has fantastic players and doesn’t show many weaknesses in how they play with the ball or defend off it.

“It isn’t only in-game [you learn], it is when you prepare and it is difficult to find gaps in their play.

“I love going up against the top teams and managers. They test you, which is great.”