Everton must hand Conor Coady captain’s armband after injury news
Frank Lampard has a big decision to make before Everton make the trip to the capital to take on Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
The Toffees announced via Twitter on Wednesday (7 September) that vice-captain Jordan Pickford had picked up an injury which would rule him out for close to a month.
England’s number one will also miss out on the latest round of international fixtures for the Three Lions leaving Gareth Southgate a tough choice as to who takes the gloves.
But Lampard has an even tougher task in choosing who will wear the armband for Everton when they head to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday and going forward until Pickford is back playing once again.
Seamus Coleman is the club captain but he is not even starting for the club right now thanks to the form of Scottish international Nathan Patterson so the task has to fall on someone else.
Of those who have spent a good period of time at Goodison Park, not many stand out as captain material with perhaps Anthony Gordon the only one showing the fight and desire that is required of a Premier League club captain.
So maybe the armband has to be passed to whoever has the most experience as a skipper and that is unquestionably Pickford’s fellow England international Conor Coady.
The local lad was the immensely popular captain at Wolves before Bruno Lage decided to shun him out of Molineux, which led to his arrival back on Merseyside.
If Lampard has any sense whatsoever, he will lay that armband on Coady’s kit at The Emirates and trust the most experienced and best leader at the club to spearhead a resurgence in the capital.
Pickford will soon be back to take the role on again but it is a relief for Everton that there is such a good backup in place already.