Ahead of tomorrow night’s match at home against Fleetwood Town in League One, I asked the Vital Lincoln City members what three things they think The Imps need to do to pick up all three points.
You can discuss what has been said in this article HERE, as well as many other topics on our 100% Imps forum! We have also published a Lincoln City v Fleetwood Town Quiz, which can be found just below the first three things. Every page view helps raise money for Lincoln City Football Club!
Here’s what Chesterimp said:
1. A couple of weeks ago we were all tentatively anticipating a run of “easier” games against mid and lower table sides. Typically, the fates have conspired to kick us in the nuts with some below-par performances by this season’s standards, due in no small part to the loss of key experienced players through injury. Today’s news that Grant, for most I suspect prime candidate for player of the season, may be out for a while; Jackson probably out for tomorrow night; others “not quite” ready to return from injury means that to win against Fleetwood whichever side MA is able to put out will have to be on their best game despite some players not being regular starters or in usual positions.
2. Start fast, look to score first. This means a quicker, more focussed start than recently, when we’ve conceded the first goal, often early and immediately are chasing the game. We’ve scraped out results more often than not, but it makes it much harder. It’s likely Fleetwood will look to capitalize by trying to start quick themselves so it’s important to be prepared for that, and to counter-attack.
3. Concentrate on the basics which have got the Imps into the top two. That means the confidence between Palmer and the centre backs needs to be re-established; the midfield in front of the back 4 needs to be robustly defended; further forward was great once we got going at Plymouth and that needs to be repeated from the kick-off.
Have a go at our Lincoln City v Fleetwood Town Quiz below:
And here’s what Rob the Imp said:
1. Concentrate from the first blow of the ref’s whistle. Too many times recently we have been caught napping with a slow start and conceded early (or – as Saturday – twice early on). No doubt it has been difficult with the centre-back pairing changing through injuries and with rotating the full-backs leaving an unsettled defence, but those mistakes need to be cut out if we are to finish games and earn ourselves points.
2. Ensure that every member of the squad knows what is expected of them. Now more than ever we are reliant on the squad as a whole given that we are down to the bare bones in terms of fit and ready players. If the likes of Roughan, Archibald etc are given the chance to show what they can do then they have got to be in sync with the team or else we will end up being punished by savvy opposition.
3. Protect the few players we do have available. Any further injuries within the squad this week will mean we seriously struggle to field a full team and (useful) bench. We might get a few of the kids to warm the bench/socially-distanced seats in the stand but realistically they aren’t going to be able to play a part in a League One match. As Michael Appleton alluded to recently, training sessions have been light if they take place at all, which will help – we might also need to invest in some industrial-sized rolls of cotton wool.
Thank you to Graham Burrell and Lincoln City Football Club for the photograph!
Fleetwood Town (h): Three Things The Imps Need To Do To Win:https://t.co/MYvuGvmCHb#ImpsAsOne #ProudToBeImps #FTFC pic.twitter.com/O2WnLwEP9t
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) March 1, 2021
