Everton manager Frank Lampard says fellow relegation battlers Burnley’s decision to sack Sean Dyche “doesn’t affect” the Toffees.
Boss Dyche was axed last Friday by the Clarets, who subsequently drew 1-1 at West Ham on Sunday with Mike Jackson in caretaker charge.
With seven matches to play, Burnley are 18th in the Premier League, three points adrift of 17th-placed Everton, who have a game in hand.
Lampard’s side were beaten 3-2 at Turf Moor on April 6 then defeated Manchester United 1-0 at Goodison Park three days later, before Burnley lost 2-0 at Norwich the next day in what proved the final game of Dyche’s tenure.
Everton return to action by hosting Leicester on Wednesday – with the Clarets then entertaining Southampton 24 hours later – and, when asked at his pre-match press conference about Dyche’s sacking, Lampard said: “Firstly, Sean Dyche has been an incredible manager of the club.
“I think that’s been quite a universal reaction to it, but the club have decided to make a change, and Sean Dyche I’m sure deserves maybe a bit of a rest and then will get a fantastic job because of the level of manager he has shown himself to be. I wish Sean all the best going forward on that.
“In terms of what happens to Burnley, what it means in this period, nobody knows – you can probably go through history and find good reactions from changes, not so good reactions from changes.
“It doesn’t affect Everton. I saw a quote this week saying we were let off the hook that it’s happened. I don’t see how. This doesn’t change anything – Burnley are a good team and used to fighting to stay in the Premier League, and that fact will remain the same.”
Everton play ninth-placed Leicester twice in their next four matches, either side of a derby at Liverpool on Sunday and a home encounter with Lampard’s old club Chelsea a week later.
The team have won three – including their last two home games – and lost seven of their 10 league matches since the 43-year-old’s arrival in January.
He said: “The mood’s good. It was a fantastic result against Man United and one with I think a lot of good things from us, but also some things we can improve on. In terms of three points and focusing on what’s ahead, the mood’s confident and the lads are working very well.
“There’s no substitute for (results), but it’s generally been a very positive place since I’ve been here. I say that with real honesty, because sometimes the feeling outside isn’t so positive, and off the back of results, and I understand that.
“You get tested with that. Sometimes it can have an effect on the atmosphere, (but) it hasn’t so much. We’ve always bounced back in terms of trying next game, trying next game. It will be more important than anything to have that mentality for the next eight games.
“We don’t need to win eight games to stay in this league – we need to get a certain amount of points, and we need to stay very resilient in that period.
“Leicester, Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester is a tough run, but at the same time I think that at this stage of the season, it’s very easy to over-analyse the opposition in those terms.
“We must focus on ourselves, go game by game. We’d like to try to continue the good form we’ve had at Goodison and the good results. Just tackle it head on. We have injured players back fit so let’s hope we can keep that.”
Yerry Mina and Donny Van De Beek are available to make their comebacks on Wednesday after injuries.
