Jody Morris admits turning down a move to Everton.

Morris, 43, was Frank Lampard's assistant at both Derby County and Chelsea. And before then, the pair were even team-mates at Chelsea and the England Under-21s.

But when Lampard, 43, took up the job with the Toffees, the former midfielder decided it was best that he waited until another club came along with a vacant first-team manager opportunity.

Morris, speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at the launch of their 5-A-Side bet on Chelsea v Crystal Palace, said: “When me and Frank [Lampard] first left Chelsea, I was approached by a Championship club with regard to being their number one and I called Lamps straight away to ask him what he thought. He told me to 'absolutely go and talk to them'.

"It was a quality club, and I went through a three or four-week period where I'd actually got my head around the idea of being a manager, and not an assistant.

“I always knew I was going to be a manager one day anyway; I'd left my role managing the academy team at Chelsea to join Frank at Derby - I managed my own staff there, so I felt it was only going to be a matter of time until I was in a managerial role."