GODFREY DETAILS HIS COMMITMENT TO EVERTON.

Ben Godfrey reiterated his commitment to “driving on” his teammates and supporting Everton in achieving success at every opportunity that presents itself.

On Tuesday night, as the Blues fought to earn a crucial point in the 0-0 draw at Fulham, the defender was brought back to Everton’s starting lineup for the first time since the 2-0 triumph at Burnley in December.

Godfrey returned to the starting lineup for the FA Cup on Saturday, one of four changes made by Sean Dyche’s squad to lessen the impact of midfielder Amadou Onana’s slight knee injury. Godfrey began the match against Luton Town.

Godfrey put up a commanding and strong performance at Craven Cottage, completing the game with the joint-most tackles (four) and defensive clearances (seven) of any Everton player despite not playing in any of the team’s previous eight games.

In the first half, he made a save that prevented Willian from finishing, by deflecting the ball away from the Brazilian.

In second-half stoppage time, the defender almost stole all three points for the Blues when his late goal sparked a goalline scramble that Fulham barely survived.

Even though Godfrey hasn’t had as much playing time as he would have liked, manager Glen Dyche has praised the player for his attitude during the year. Godfrey also promised to keep giving it his all to help Everton progress after his outstanding performance in southwest London.

Godfrey acknowledged to EvertonTV, “It’s my job to compete on the weekends so it’s always tough when you don’t get the opportunity to be involved in Premier League games.”

“But that’s football sometimes. It’s important for me that I just keep working hard whether I am playing or not, and keep driving the boys on. At the end of the day, I am part of the team and not everyone can play – I know that.

“But when my opportunity comes to get out on the pitch, it’s important that I take it and help the boys as much as possible.”

Everton has had a strong start to 2024 thanks to Tuesday’s outcome; they have only lost one of their five games and have kept clean sheets in four of them.

Godfrey, a defender, thinks the team has benefited from such unwavering defensive performances and is optimistic that goals will start to come from the other end as long as Everton continues to create the opportunities they have been doing lately.

“We could have won all three points, but there were opportunities,” he said. “I don’t want to say we came away disappointed.” “As they did, Jordan made a few excellent saves, but we are happy with the clean sheet and may consider that we could have scored a few goals on a different night.

“I’m sure our attacking guys will put those away in a different game, and I’m sure that will happen in future games.”

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