Sam Stone

Wed 18 May 2022 13:57, UK

Frank Lampard has confirmed that Everton defender Michael Keane will return to the matchday squad after missing the Brentford game through illness.

The Everton boss also confirmed that Ben Godfrey could return and Donny van de Beek will be in the matchday squad.

However, Lampard did confirm that Fabian Delph and Yerry Mina are still 100% out of the Toffees clash against Palace.

Talking in his pre-match press conference [Wednesday, 18 May] on Everton’s YouTube channel, Lampard said: “Ben [Godfrey] maybe in the squad and that’s just a testament to him striving to get fit, but if he’s in the squad I’ll make a decision on whether he’s involved at all.

“The others [Mina and Delph] are out and Keane is fully fit to start.”

When asked about van de Beek’s availability Lampard said: “Yeah, he’s in the squad.”

Discipline

It is crucial that the Toffees maintain a level of discipline in their clash with Palace on Thursday [19 May].

Lampard will be fully aware that Jarrad Branthwaite’s lapse of concentration was a big contributor to the Toffees’ downfall against Brentford and they can ill-afford a similar situation to arise.

Everton were in control of their match against the Bees, there was no reason for them to be caught with one long ball in behind their defence.

Jordan Pickford wasn’t higher enough and Branthwaite should’ve read the situation far better than he did.

Moments like that can define a season and the Toffees will not want this one to follow suit.

It should’ve been a routine win to secure safety, now instead the fixture against Palace has an enormous amount riding on it.

If Lampard’s side keep their discipline, they have shown in recent weeks they have the quality all over the pitch to be a competitive side.

In other Everton news, Ellis Simms’ future is ‘totally down to Everton’ after successful Hearts loan spell

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