Frank Lampard has insisted that the fans’ Goodison Park pitch invasion was fully warranted as staying in the Premier League "means so much to the people" at Everton.

The Toffees retained their top-flight status in the most dramatic of circumstances against Crystal Palace last night.

Everton found themselves two goals behind at half-time and their dogfight to avoid relegation was heading into the final day of the season.

But a barnstorming second-half display saw the Blues produce a dramatic comeback. Goals from Michael Keane, Richarlison, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin delivered a 3-2 victory.

It means that Everton cannot be caught by Leeds United ahead of Sunday’s final round of fixtures.

At the full-time whistle, thousands of Evertonians stormed onto the pitch to celebrate with Lampard and his squad.

Some supporters of rival clubs have criticised those actions – but Lampard retorted by saying "bring it on".

What’s been said?

The Everton boss, who took over the hot seat in January from Rafa Benitez after just one league win in 13 games, said: “They’re (the scenes) just incredible.

“Bring it on, people who want to say: 'Celebrating staying up'."

“You know what – it means so much to the people at this club, the players, the board, and everybody."

“And also the circumstances of being 2-0 down to win 3-2—people won’t forget this." Everton fans won’t forget this.

“Evertonians will say: 'This happens, this is the way we do things, that’s very Everton'."

“They can say these things, but to do it, to practically do it as players, is a special night." The scenes are well deserved for everybody.

You have to just kind of fake it.

There was a white-hot atmosphere around Goodison hours before kick-off as supporters again welcomed the team bus in their droves.

But Everton made the worst possible start and were 2-0 down at half-time as Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew bagged for Palace.

What Lampard did during the 15-minute interval was always going to be pivotal – in terms of his team talk and tactical tweaks.

He brought on Dele Alli in place of Andre Gomes, as well as switching to a 4-3-3 formation. Both changed the game markedly.

And Lampard revealed that he had to 'fake it’ when getting his message across to his troops.

Lampard added: “Sometimes as a manager, if you’re honest, you have to just kind of fake it, act a bit, not show your feelings because you have to try to turn people on, inspire people."

“There was a small change. Dele Alli came on. Dele was amazing. The shape of the team changed before half-time, but we could give some information.

“My point was, it’s not the tactical change, it’s the emotions now and it’s the character and can you energize the crowd, can you score an early goal to get us back in the game and you have to believe in anything."

“A really simple message." From then on, it’s just the players. Hand it over to them. They deserve all the credit. ”