Everton winger Andros Townsend says Frank Lampard gave them ‘belief’ which led them to beating Brentford 4-1 on Saturday.

Lampard opened his managerial career at Everton with a win as the Toffees progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup thanks to goals from Yerry Mina, Richarlison, Mason Holgate and Townsend himself. 

The 30-year-old has revealed maintaining possession has been at the heart of what they’ve been working on, having not been ‘good enough’ under Rafa Benitez. 

Townsend told Everton’s official website: ‘We knew we had to use the energy of the crowd. 

‘We started on the front foot, the boys pressed well and worked really hard. Nine times out of 10, when you run your socks off and work hard, you get your reward. Today we got that.

‘The manager has given us that belief. He’s obviously looked at the stats and possession-wise this season we’ve not been good enough.

‘We’ve been in the 30s and 40s, which, for a club the size of Everton, is nowhere near good enough. So, first and foremost, in training we’ve been working on keeping the ball, enjoying the ball.

‘I thought it’d take a lot longer than a week but you saw out there today we were more comfortable on the ball and it felt like we had a lot more possession out there on the pitch.

‘Then, at the end of it all, we scored four goals which we haven’t done so far this season.’ 

Lampard was left over the moon with the win but said he’ll have to ‘calm down’ and turn attention back to the Premier League. 

He said: ‘It’s a day I’ll never forget, it was very special, and I can’t help but get caught up in the emotion of that for the moment. 

‘We all hear about the Goodison effect and I’ve felt it on the other side and we wanted to produce that today and the players did.

‘But as much as I was proud of the performance and it gets me excited, I have to calm down now and work towards the league games.’

Everton currently sit in 16th, just four points above the relegations zone and they’ll take-on Newcastle on Tuesday night.