London: Everton manager Frank Lampard admitted that his side’s could not take maximum points from the game against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. However, he praised the determination his team showed to fight back to hit a late leveller.
Demarai Gray’s wonderfully composed finish late in the piece earned the Blues a point after Brennan Johnson gave the away side an 81st-minute lead at Goodison Park.
Lampard believes only a lack of clinical edge in front of goal cost his team victory after an Everton performance full of intensity and attacking purpose.
“It’s a first point on the board, but I thought we deserved to win today. That’s not to say Forest didn’t compete. They’re a team of really good players and they have a really good coach. We had 19 shots and, with the quality of chances we have, it’s very difficult to gain control and real confidence in the game if you’re not taking those,” Lampard told to official website of Everton.
Everton created 15 chances and got four of them on target in their defeats by Chelsea and West Ham, and though Lampard was pleased to see his side grab their first point of the season, he is troubled by their issues in front of goal.
“Things are not dropping for us. Balls are flying around the box, shots cannoning off opposition players’ bodies. We had a lot of good opportunities to score but we didn’t take them. Forest had a couple themselves, but we certainly had the better of the chances. We showed good character to come back and get a point out of it. We had a couple of fair chances to score a winner, too, and on another day, those go in,” he added.
On the determination his team showed to fight back in the game Lampard said, “There’s resilience and there’s spirit. It’s easy to lose confidence when you concede, but the plyers stuck with it and the fans did too. It did get a little nervous after Forest scored but Demarai’s goal changed that. You see the power of unification in the stadium when we get the last five minutes – when everyone is together pushing for that goal and the players run forward and give that energy.”
–IANS
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