Neville Southall insists Jordan Pickford is not to blame for Everton's woes and believes he is rightfully England's first-choice goalkeeper.
Pickford captained Everton as Frank Lampard's team capitulated to another dismal away defeat on Wednesday, this time to relegation rivals Burnley.
Two penalties from Richarlison had put Everton 2-1 up at Turf Moor heading into half-time yet Jay Rodriguez and Maxwel Cornet struck to seal a 3-2 victory for Burnley that takes the Clarets to within a point of Lampard's side, who sit 17th with nine games remaining.
Pickford was hardly at fault for any of Burnley's goals and has been a consistent performer for Everton despite their torrid form.
The 28-year-old's place as England number one has been called into question this term, due in large part to Aaron Ramsdale's strong form for Arsenal, though Gareth Southgate has stood by Pickford, who has played a pivotal role in the Three Lions reaching a World Cup semi-final and the final of Euro 2020.
Asked about Pickford by Sky Sports, Everton great Southall, who was their goalkeeper throughout the club's successful spell in the 1980s, said: "Confidence plays a part in it. Jordan Pickford's done nothing wrong this season.
"Unfortunately at the moment, we've got Aaron Ramsdale at Arsenal and traditionally most of the media want somebody to play [for England] from a London club.
"So he's always going to be under more scrutiny because he's playing for a club up north. I truly believe there's been a witch hunt against him through the media at times and I think it's just silly.
"He's a decent goalkeeper, playing for England. Is he going to make mistakes? Of course he is, because he's human."
Southall also believes fans and pundits have to be more aware of the potential damage that being highly critical of players can do to their mental wellbeing.
"We've got to think about what we say to these players," he continued. "Telling them all the time that they can't do stuff.
"We should start saying that they can do it. They don't know what damage they're doing. You're entitled to an opinion but some of the language I think has been over the top and it can affect some of the players. For me it's about looking after the players' welfare."
Everton's situation makes for grim reading. Lampard has lost all five of his Premier League away games in charge of the club – he is the first manager to lose his first five away matches at a Premier League side since Jan Siewert at Huddersfield Town in 2019, who lost his first seven.
Southall, though, has put the onus on the players to step up after mistakes from Ben Godfrey and Jonjoe Kenny proved costly at Turf Moor.
"I wouldn't say any, to be fair," Southall said when asked how much responsibility fell on Lampard's shoulders.
"Whoever he puts out it's up to them to do the job. It's all about the players on the pitch. The players have to emulate the fans, passion, expression, desire and if they show them things I think we'll get results."
Everton face Manchester United at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Aldershot miss out on play-off place after draw at Dagenham
Aldershot rescued a point in a 3-3 draw at Dagenham but missed out on a National League play-off spot.
Daggers striker Inih Effiong opened the scoring in the 34th minute, slamming home his 16th league goal of the season from Josh Hare’s cutback.
Aldershot were awarded a penalty at the start of the second half when Elliott Johnson brought down Kwame Thomas.
The Shots forward looked to be in an offside position and both managers were booked as tempers flared, but Cian Harries kept his cool to convert the spot-kick.
Dagenham boss Ben Strevens was then shown a red card before Lorent Tolaj headed the visitors in front in the 72nd minute.
Ryan Hill finished off a swift counter-attack to pull the home side level with eight minutes left and after Effiong was denied by the woodwork, the Daggers thought they had won it through Dion Pereira’s strike.
There was still time for Aldershot to level, though, as Josh Barrett found the top corner with a free-kick.
Ollie Banks fires late winner for NL Champions Chesterfield against Maidenhead
Ollie Banks scored a late winner as champions Chesterfield ended their time in the National League with a 3-2 victory over Maidenhead in front of a sell-out crowd of 10,108 at the SMH Group Stadium.
The Spireites, having lost four consecutive games since sealing promotion back to the English Football League last month, were 2-0 ahead after half an hour.
Joe Quigley’s fine work helped Liam Mandeville poke in from close range in the 28th minute before the forward got on the scoresheet himself shortly after, firing home after a goal-mouth scramble.
However, Maidenhead came out firing after the interval and were level courtesy of two goals in three minutes, with Tristan Abrahams slotting into an empty net after Harry Tyrer parried Reece Smith’s shot and then Kevin Lokko heading in.
But after Tom Naylor had a goal disallowed and Armando Dobra hit the post, Chesterfield finally found a winner at the death when Banks hammered in.
Altrincham secure home play-off tie with win over relegated Oxford City
Altrincham booked a home tie in the play-offs as they beat Oxford City 1-0 on the final day.
With City long since relegated, Alty knew it was the perfect chance to set up their post-season and they did so thanks to Regan Linney’s first-half goal.
Elliot Newby had already gone close when the opener came, with Newby tripped in the box allowing Linney to convert three minutes before half-time.
Chris Conn-Clarke almost added a second after the break but Altrincham had done enough.
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