The press conference started with Danny Cowley being presented with a splendid Imps shirt ‘Cowley 40’ – birthday cake from BBC Radio Lincolnshire quipping he hoped it was better than the tin foil covering (that had hastily been dropped over it ahead of the big reveal) before joking that the lady who presented it from R. Lincs had gone for a kiss on the lips as she handed it over.
Ellis Chapman Red Card: Danny Cowley was not backing down in any way from his position on Saturday even wryly commenting it (red card) was the only unwarranted card he got this weekend. DC made it clear that having seen the still photograph of the contact that had been posted on social media that people should not take that one image out of context. He stated he had three or four stills involving other challenges from the same game that looked like ‘reds’ in isolation and people should not be misled; rather they should look at the incident as a whole. DC went onto explain Ellis Chapman perspective and the grounds for the appeal that was going ahead today. Ellis had been intending to side-foot pass the ball to Rheady when Gary Deegan initially made the tackle first. Whilst Ellis did catch the opponent high it was apparent that once Ellis realised what was happening he immediately pulled out of the attempted pass twisting sideways in order to do so, thereby resulting in minimal contact but caught him on the follow through. The contact had been without malice or intent and in no way fitted any definition of violent or opponent endangerment. There was nothing else Ellis could do at that moment. DC was adamant that the appeal would be upheld and was hopeful (at that time) of having an outcome ‘this afternoon’. Ellis had the unconditional support of everybody at the football club and was confident the incident would not unsettle the player in the games to come.
Injury Situation: Understandably DC was tight-lipped only saying that a couple of new knocks had been picked up at the weekend which may be countered by the possibility of one or two of the previously injured players hopefully able to be involved on Tuesday. In any case, most of the players had taken to the grass in training Monday which was a good thing. Due to the injuries and red card appeal DC was holding off team selection until Tuesday but that is normal for midweek games in any case. Longer term injury Sam Habergham had a big breakthrough only today having demonstrated that he was able to control a one-legged squat. The significance of that is he now should be able to transfer that to both running and deceleration. Sam has been sorely missed and DC cannot wait to have such a diligent and conscientious player back in full training.
Cambridge: DC thought it was a really valuable point having to overcome the pre-existing injuries, red card and an excellent goal from Cambridge. The GPS data bore testament to the additional effort the squad necessarily had to put into the match but he had no fears that the squad were in anything other than fine physical condition.
Carlisle: They have an excellent away record with 5 wins on the road this season including notable victories at Bury and Oldham. Having lost on Saturday Imps will have to be mindful of Carlisle being a wounded animal. DC knew where their threats came from highlighting that Carlisle have an experienced spine, pacey counter-attack and players that carry a goal threat. It is important to build on a valuable point gained on Saturday off the back of a resolute performance. That needs to be backed up by a successful result against Carlisle.
Miscellaneous: DC simply wanted an overdue home tie in The FA Cup; that with three points is all he wanted for his birthday. He is looking forward to a near sell-out SB crowd with it being half term.
Writer: hulloutpost
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DC: "We felt it was a really valuable point.":https://t.co/tlP6iKYG5L#ImpsAsOne #CUFC #Carlisle
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) October 22, 2018
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