Everton manager Frank Lampard says fellow relegation struggler Burnley’s decision to sack Sean Dyche “doesn’t affect” the Toffees.
Boss Dyche was sacked last Friday by the Clarets, who subsequently drew 1-1 at West Ham on Sunday with Mike Jackson in caretaker charge.
With seven games to go, Burnley are 18th in the Premier League, three points behind Everton, who are 17th and have one game to play.
Lampard’s side were beaten 3-2 at Turf Moor on 6 April and then beat Manchester United 1-0 at Goodison Park three days later, before Burnley lost 2-0 at Norwich the next day in what turned out to be the last match of Dyche’s term.
Everton return to action by hosting Leicester on Wednesday, with the Clarets then entertaining Southampton 24 hours later, and when asked in his pre-match press conference about Dyche’s sacking, Lampard said: “First of all, Sean Dyche has been an incredible manager of the club.
“I think it’s been a pretty universal reaction, but the club has decided to make a change, and Sean Dyche, I’m sure he deserves a bit of a break and then he’s going to get a fantastic job because of the level of coach he has.” has proven to be. I wish Sean all the best in 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 to changes, not so good reactions to changes.
“It doesn’t affect Everton. This week I saw a quote that said they set us free that it happened. I don’t see how this changes anything: Burnley are a good team and are 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 games, either in a derby at Liverpool on Sunday and a home encounter with Lampard’s former club Chelsea a week later.
The team have won three, including the last two home games, and have lost seven of their 10 league games since the 43-year-old’s arrival in January.
He said: “The mood is good. It was a fantastic result against Man United and one with a lot of good things about us, but also some things we can improve on. As for the three points and focused on what is to come, the atmosphere is one of trust and the boys are working very well.
“There is no substitute for (results), but overall it has been a very positive place since I have been here. I say this with real honesty, because sometimes the external feeling is not so positive and depends on the results, and I understand that.
“They test you with that. Sometimes it can have an effect on the atmosphere, (but) not as much. We’ve always bounced back in terms of trying the next game, trying the 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 number of points and we need to be very resilient in that period.
“Leicester, Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester is a tough race, but at the same time I think at this stage of the season, it’s very easy to overanalyze the opposition in those terms.
“We have to focus on ourselves, go game by game. We would like to try to continue the good form we have had at Goodison and the good results. Just face it head-on. We’ve got injured players who have gotten back into shape, so hopefully we can keep that up.”
Yerry Mina and Donny Van De Beek are available to return on Wednesday after injuries.
