Frank Lampard wants Everton and the Club's supporters to unite for a compelling Goodison Park effort against Manchester United on Saturday.
Everton are first up in the Premier League this weekend and victory would, for 24 hours at least, lift Lampard’s team four points clear of Burnley in 18th, with 19th-placed Watford two points further back.
The manager, appointed on the last day of January, has won four of his six home matches, the most recent of those successes the Alex Iwobi-inspired triumph against Newcastle United.
Peering beyond the black-and-white of Goodison results, Lampard is equally buoyed by his side’s performances in L4, married to the swell of support for the home team since the former Chelsea boss arrived.
Those ticks in the plus column, insists Lampard, alleviate the pressure of playing for points that will decide which division Everton play in next season.
“I understand the situation, the fans have passion, they live and breathe this club,” said Lampard, speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“I do, too, I have been here five minutes in football terms and live and breathe the Club and want us to stay in the league.
“I have to handle that because I have to do my job.
“I can only ask the fans to turn up tomorrow and be absolutely behind us, as they have been since I’ve been here.
“We have won four out of six at Goodison, which is a contrast to our away form, and need to keep it going.
“It shows how strong we can be together.
“The game against Newcastle was incredible, people were talking about it as the best night at Goodison for years.
“The questions a few weeks later are very different but that is the nature of football.
“I have to be very level-headed, I understand the fans’ emotions and am doing everything to ensure we do right by them.
“We are a huge club and people want to talk about it [position in table].
“I am proud to manage here and keep the history of this club going in a positive way.”
The win over Newcastle three weeks ago qualified as a very satisfactory response to a pair of league defeats in the previous 10 days.
Everton missed the chance to ride that euphoric wave, however, albeit performances in losses at West Ham United and Burnley this week arguably merited better than a barren return.
Certainly, at Burnley on Wednesday, Lampard’s team did a lot right to achieve a position of superiority in the game, only for a 2-1 lead to slip away following lapses at both ends of the pitch.
Those individual mistakes, insists Lampard, are symptomatic of the tension associated with a survival fight.
High on the priority list, then, is eradicating costly errors, while staying faithful to an approach that has yielded more encouraging displays.
One element of the team that doesn’t need addressing, meanwhile, is the hunger and industry required for an upturn.
“Application doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with results,” said Lampard. “The result on Wednesday was down to individual mistakes.
“Players aren’t running and fighting less than the opposition, we have stats to back that up.
“If someone didn’t do it [compete], they wouldn’t play.
“Critical things in both boxes are affecting us, but we have to keep working in the same way and be very clear on what we want the players to do and believe in that.
“I came to a great club and am managing a squad of players who are working well.
“We are working towards becoming a better team, with better results and a better mentality, and those things are a work in progress.
“We must take confidence from the good performances [in past two games], but work to improve, if we improve performances, results will come.”
The form of this weekend’s visitors is an enduringly popular topic of conversation.
The idea that Manchester United are desperately scrambling for results, though, is something of a red herring.
They are probably drawing more than they’d like, but interim manager Ralf Rangnick has lost only two of 16 Premier League matches in charge – and only one of the past 11.
“They have fantastic individuals throughout the team,” said Lampard, who wants Everton performances underpinned by controlled aggression in the closing fixtures.
“Maybe they are having difficult times because of their history and where they have been.
“Sometimes those situations aren’t easy to turn straight away, you have to fight and work against it… As we are at our end.
“We have to fight and run… That has to be our DNA as a club.
“The players are at Everton because they have quality and we need to deliver a level of performance and be tough.”
Striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has two goals in his past three appearances against United, is set for a third straight Premier League start after injury.
“He is a top player and professional,” said Lampard.
“When a player has been suffering with injuries, he can’t answer the questions [over form] well enough.
“He is reaching that fitness and the next step is, can he contribute as well as he can and get the goals we want
“He has my absolute support. I know how much he wants to deliver and have absolute confidence it will come good for him in terms of goals.”
