Rickie Lambert, a Liverpool fan as a schoolboy, admitted he was disappointed not to have capped off a threatening display with a goal against Everton.

“It was a good point, but we’re disappointed not to get the three, especially first half,” he said. “We played some really good football and I should have put at least one away, maybe two, so I’m disappointed personally I haven’t put one in the back of the net.

“But it’s well played again and defensively we were solid I thought.”

After an eventful few days at St Mary’s, Lambert admitted the players had been glad to get back to action last night.

“A footballer’s place is on the pitch,” he said. “Once you’re on there you forget about everything else and that’s what we’ve done. “We tried to get a win, it wasn’t to be, but it was a good performance.”