'There is a long way to go', Frank Lampard remains cautious about survival despite Chelsea win
Everton sealed a vital 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday afternoon thanks to Richarlison's second half goal, but manager Frank Lampard assured his players there's work yet to be done.
After Burnley opened up a five point gap to Everton at the bottom of the table on Saturday, Frank Lampard's side responded with a huge win of their own on Sunday afternoon.
A goalless first half was played under huge tension at Goodison Park, but the anxiety quickly turned to joy just a minute after the break when Richarlison calmly put Everton in the lead.
Chelsea came back and had chances of their own, but Jordan Pickford's heroics in goal ensured Everton kept a rare clean sheet on their way to claiming all three points.
The win kept Everton in contention for survival this season, with the Toffees now just two points behind Burnley and Everton with a game in hand.
UP THE TOFFEES!!! โ๐ต#EVECHE pic.twitter.com/uMSjcQxSbc
โ Everton (@Everton) May 1, 2022
But while that mathematically means survial is in Everton's hands, Lampard was quick to point out that it doesn't usually work like that down the bottom of the Premier League table.
"I don't know what is in your hands around the bottom of the table," the Everton boss added.
"If it was Liverpool and Manchester City you'd think they would win every game and then in your hands is great at that point.
"But are we expecting Burnley to win every game? At the minute maybe yeah! Are we expecting Leeds to win every game?
"It think it is hard to say what is in our hands and that's because we can only control certain things - and that's when we play.
"That's the difficult thing about yesterday, we can't control Burnley. We can't control Leeds. We can only control ourselves.
"Of the five games we will have to control ourselves well enough to get enough points. We don't know what that (total) is.
"My feeling is there is a long way to go."
๐ | "I am delighted. It was a big game for us but we have still got a lot of work to do."
โ Everton (@Everton) May 1, 2022
Frank gives his verdict on #EVECHE โคต๏ธ pic.twitter.com/a5JLeHlJHI
With now just five games left in the season, it's clear that the final relegation spot will be taken by one of either Everton, Leeds or Burnley.
But while many sides insist on focusing on their own results and nothing else, Lampard used Burnley's result on Saturday as a method of motivation ahead of Sunday.
"I think it was an important moment to talk about the reality of the situation," he said.
"You can keep telling the players to believe. Then there are other times when the demands are this.
"To be good lads is not enough to stay in this league. It is clear what the table looks like.
"My feeling was we needed an extra boost, an extra bit of attention, and to be fair the players delivered that.
"I mentioned it (the Burnley result) briefly to the players this morning because I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fear or a lack of hope with the points difference."
Next up for Everton is a trip to King Power to face a struggling Leicester side. After that, a must-win clash against relegation-bound Watford will be crucial to their survival hopes.