Everton journalist Greg O’Keeffe says it was ‘disappointing to see’ Ben Godfrey’s injury tarnish Saturday’s win over Brentford.
The lowdown
Everton kick-started the Frank Lampard era with a resounding 4-1 victory over The Bees at Goodison Park, securing their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
But the victory, The Toffees’ first on home soil since 6 December, was somewhat marred by Godfrey’s hamstring issue.
BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty saw the Englishman ‘pulling up sharply in possession’ in the early stages, and he wasn’t able to continue.
He was subsequently seen leaving the stadium on crutches, and now Lampard will be sweating on the results of a scan.
The latest
“Disappointing to see Ben Godfrey substituted with what looked a very painful injury,” O’Keeffe wrote in The Athletic’s matchday discussion.
While Godfrey had to be ‘helped off by two physios’, a stretcher wasn’t required, which may ‘at least’ be a more positive sign.
The verdict
Godfrey is an especially useful player because, while he’s a central defender by trade, he can also be deployed on the right or left.
Lampard would have been hoping to revitalise a player who made England’s provisional squad for Euro 2020 but hasn’t done enough to feature for Gareth Southgate since.
Everton are already without Abdoulaye Doucoure until March and Tom Davies and Fabian Delph until April, meaning their protection in front of the defence is also wounded.
The Toffees are just four points above the bottom three ahead of their midweek trip to fellow strugglers Newcastle, and Lampard’s task just got even harder.
In other news, Phil Kirkbride loved this man’s performance yesterday.
