Frank Lampard has challenged his Everton team to further raise their performance levels following last weekend’s eye-catching display against Crystal Palace – and revealed his belief Dominic Calvert-Lewin can make a compelling case for a place in England’s World Cup squad.

Everton will aim to make it back-to-back Premier League wins with victory at Fulham on Saturday, with Lampard primed for a “tough game against a side in good form”.

The Blues boss believes Everton’s comprehensive 3-0 win over Palace offers evidence his team are on the right path but insists they must be relentless in their pursuit of consistent excellence.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, he said: “We are working towards something daily.

“You get games when things come together and a lot of positives are there. There are always things you can improve, too. As much as it was good, it’s important to also reflect on what can be better.

“We’re moving in a good direction and we needed a result and a performance [against Palace]. The lads delivered but it’s important we do that consistently now and improve.

“I was pleased with the application of the lads in every position and in every relationship on the pitch. They took on what we wanted to do and did it really well. That’s with and without the ball.

“We can never become complacent. It was a good moment last week, but now we go to a difficult opposition who are playing well themselves this weekend, so it all starts again.”

Calvert-Lewin opened his goalscoring account for the season in the Palace success.

The game represented just his second start of the campaign after a period out with injury and Lampard is confident the striker will go from strength to strength as he approaches peak fitness.

“He’s a huge player for us,” he added.

“I have nice options now [in attack] when he’s fit, with Neal Maupay who has come in and been really positive for us.

“Dominic, with his attributes, and the history of what he can do at this club, allows you to work off him in different ways. I’m delighted to have him back and the big challenge for us is to give him the right environment to get even fitter and show what he can do.

“What we saw last week was a sharp player. I think there’s more to come. The more weeks we get through with good training, the more games he can play at a high level, hopefully we see him get even closer to that mark [where he is at his best].”

Asked whether Calvert-Lewin forcing his way into Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Qatar World Cup was “realistic”, Lampard replied: “It’s absolutely realistic, without a doubt, because he’s shown he could be there before.

“One of his benefits is that Gareth will know exactly what he can do, having been in previous squads and scored for his country.

“Gareth will have seen him play to a level last week which is towards the level he can attain.

“Now, it’s a nice challenge for Dom in these next few games, to continue with that form. Then the question is Gareth’s to see whether he wants to take him.”

On Saturday, Everton will face a Fulham side sitting seventh in the Premier League table and who are unbeaten in their past three games.

Lampard added: “They have good players and have a good way of playing, with energy in the team.

“The maturity of their team is probably more stable than it’s been for a good few years now. We will treat with them with the respect they deserve but also concentrate on ourselves.

“We have to turn up with the right attitude and application, and I think we’ll be in for a good game.”