Everton boss Frank Lampard was pleased with the attitude of his Premier League side as they made it through to the third round of the Carabao Cup by overcoming League One Fleetwood 1-0 at Highbury.
A first-half goal from Demarai Gray, who was a late addition to the Everton starting line-up after Tom Davies was injured in the warm-up, gave the Toffees victory but Lampard admitted his side had to work hard.
He said: “I was really pleased with the attitude but the intensity and quality at times wasn’t as good as it should have been and we should have controlled the game better.
“It was a good indicator of where we are at the moment because we know we have to improve but it was good to get through.”
Gray’s goal came after 28 minutes with a neat finish from the left-hand side of the box but Everton were thankful to goalkeeper Asmir Begovic for fine saves from Cian Hayes and Toffees defender Reece Welch, who sent a looping header towards his own goal.
Fleetwood manager Scott Brown said he was proud of his team’s display despite their defeat.
He said: “We knew we were going to be up against it against a good side who had plenty of players who could hurt you and we did well.
“I couldn’t be any more proud of them to be honest.
“I asked the lads at half-time if they could give me more and they did that and – on another day – we could have got a goal and it would have been lovely if we had taken it to penalties.”
