Everton boss Frank Lampard is pleased with the progress of Alex Iwobi in central midfield.

Iwobi has played his best football at Everton under Lampard.

The manager said, "It is a necessity at the moment for Alex Iwobi to be able to play in that role because of injuries we have had and players who are not ready to play in the number six.

"The benefits of Alex were clear to me very early on because he is versatile. He is versatile because of his qualities but also because of his humility. Anything you ask of him he does it really well, at a really high level, because he is an intelligent footballer.

"It is really encouraging. I didn't have any worries about him. The only worry I had was putting a player who is accustomed to playing as a winger in as a number six against a very offensive team like Chelsea, who can give you a lot of problems through midfield. Could he deal with that side of the game?

"We spoke to him about that and he took the information on board - so really positive."