EVERTON star Abdoulaye Doucoure believes former manager Frank Lampard had something "personal" against him and that is why he left him out of the first team.
Doucoure joined the Toffees from Watford in 2020 and played regularly under previous bosses Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez but dropped down the pecking order under Lampard two years later.
The ex- Chelsea manager initially used the midfielder in the 2021-2022 run-in but restricted him to substitute outings last season, despite starting him in the first two games of the campaign.
However, the 45-year-old tactician was sacked after a series of poor results dropped the team to 19th place and was replaced by Sean Dyche in January.
Once the ex-Burnley head coach took over, the Mali international returned to the fold immediately and greatly contributed to the club's survival.
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The 30-year-old played the full 90 minutes in Dyche's first game that led to a major 1-0 win over Arsenal and registered the exact same amount he managed in the previous four months under Lampard.
The Malian star also scored the winning goal during a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth that sealed the Merseysiders' survival in the final game last May.
Doucoure told The Athletic: “If the previous manager had stayed a few weeks more, I would have been gone.
“It was impossible to not play for a year, but I think with him that was the plan.
"Even if I was training well and fresh, I don’t think he’d put me in the team.
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"It was like he had something personal against me. I knew if the club changed manager, I would get a chance again.
"So I had to keep my head down, waiting for my chance and it worked well. I was happy to be the one to score the goal to help the team stay up.
“It was a long season with low and high moments. For me personally, it was a challenge but it helped me to grow and achieve more success.
"Since the new manager came in, there was a lot of hard work from everyone and we deserved to stay up."
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This comes after reports suggested Lampard was involved in a huge dressing room bust-up with his own Everton players shortly before his dismissal.
Doucoure was allegedly involved and that led to him training on his own as a result.