Frank Lampard was reluctant to comment after he was asked about a banner calling for the Everton board to be sacked following their FA Cup defeat against Manchester United on Friday night.
The Toffees came unstuck at Old Trafford in the third-round clash, with United advancing to the next round courtesy of a 3-1 win. Antony fired the hosts into the lead before a David de Gea clanger allowed Conor Coady to prod Everton level. Coady then put through his own net to restore United's lead in the second half before Marcus Rashford added a third from the penalty spot in added-on time.
Lampard was under pressure ahead of the match following a rotten run of form. The Toffees have now won just one of their last 12 games, but it was the Everton hierarchy, rather than Lampard and his players, who drew the ire of fans after the match.
Over 9000 fans travelled to Old Trafford on Friday night, where they unfurled a banner protesting against Farhad Moshiri and the rest of the club hierarchy.
But even though Lampard and his players were clapped off by travelling fans, the Everton chief was reluctant to comment on the banner protesting against the club's ownership and gave an awkward response.
Speaking to ITV, he said: "That's what I saw [fans clapping the team] , and when the players perform with the spirit of an Everton player, the performance they put in tonight, the fans will react to that, even in defeat.
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"That says a lot, but we can’t harp on too much about the fans. I don't want to hear talk about the fans too much that isn't in a football sense. Next week is at Goodison, we need to try and make the fans feel like they felt tonight, and try and win the game."
Reflecting on the match, Lampard felt that the result was harsh on Everton before insisting that speculation over his future is something he "can't control".
When he was asked about the pressure on him, Lampard added: " That's not under my control so it's not for me to focus on that. It's on me to focus on what I saw tonight, which was a good performance, what every manager wants with the attitude and focus of the team. Our only focus now is Southampton because this league, to answer your question, can change very quickly and when you are in a difficult time you have to work really hard to get out of it and the picture can change.
"I don't want to go on that [if he will be sacked], I only want to talk about the players tonight and how well they played. When I say I'm not concerned, my focus is in this team and getting a result against Southampton."
