MA: “We’re going up against a side that are probably going to finish in the top three or four.”

Michael Appleton touched upon the uncertainties of the coming season ahead of the league season opener against Oxford United tomorrow afternoon.

Squad Position: Imps are settled at the moment with no incomings/outgoings expected in the near future. There’s one more MA would like to bring in but we’ll just have to be patient. Joe Walsh for sure and probably Liam Bridcutt are out of contention for Saturday. Other than that pretty much everyone is ready and available.

MA has been happy with how the squad has performed as a whole with the exception of the first half v Scunthorpe. After a couple of weeks previously dealing with niggles that’s a good place to be in and it will be good to have everyone competing for places; that’s the plan.

Jez George: Jez has been a great help transitioning MA into the club, when taking over mid-season after several years of success. It was necessary to make changes to progress even so and Jez has enabled MA to bridge the gap when relaying his message/vision to the board and Liam (Scully).

Oxford: MA expects them to finish in the top 3/4 this season and as such, they will be a good barometer. They’ve lost some loan players from last season along with Rob Dickie. They have recruited well including Rob Atkinson who Imps had a look at in January but Oxford had a bit more money power. The right-back is quality and in Brannagan, they had probably the best midfielder in him for the level last year. A notable strength for Oxford has been their ability to rotate their midfield well. It might not be a bad thing to get them out the way early on.

Who Are The League One Managers? No.15: Karl Robinson (Oxford United)

Outlook for the Club: It’s the beginning of our journey. With the prospects in the building and a bit of help along the way from loan players, there is no reason why in 2/3 years if we can keep this group together that we can’t be in the second tier of English football. People shouldn’t expect immediate promotion and MA doesn’t follow social media to see what people are saying but this group of players has the potential to ruffle a few feathers and shock a few along the way. If everything falls into place, we get on a roll, crowds are let back in and the momentum then who knows…..but it is important people remain sensible. The players do have certain targets and if we hit those then MA knows whereabouts the Imps will end this season.

Uncertainty: There really is uncertainty around because of the virus and it could take up to 10 games before we get the picture of where The Imps are at and 20 before we know the division. Whilst the effects of the salary cap may start to kick in that won’t be for another 12-18 months as there are certain rules currently in place which allow clubs to work around the cap at the moment.

Playing under COVID conditions does feel different. MA missed not being able to moan about the traffic as the stadium approached, or the feel of the build-up with the crowd. Some people say they’ve adapted quickly but MA never wants to feel that as we all got into football to play, watch and support in the first instance. It’s hard to differentiate between a friendly and competitive game so the players have been reminded when there is something on the game and it is to their credit they have recognised that thus far. Whilst it is hard to create the game-day feel there will be nothing that can replicate that elation of getting three points from a league game.

The absence of fans might be a disadvantage to The Imps with MA hoping to prove that theory wrong. One advantage is that there is no hiding place for the players with MA joking that players on the other side of the pitch can’t blame the crowd for not hearing an unfavourable instruction.

Lewis Montsma: MA was asked specifically how LM is settling in. He pointed out you can’t miss Lewis with him being a 6’5″ part-time model. MA is really pleased with Lewis who is coming on leaps and bounds. His performance levels have been really good and even though he was at fault for one of the goals with Lewis beating himself up about that, MA was delighted how he took responsibility, moved on from it and it didn’t affect his performance for the remainder of the game.

Writer: hulloutpost

If you haven’t already had a go at our quizzes, this is a great way to learn some random information about the Football Club, as well as helping us generate much-needed page views: Quiz No.1, Quiz No.2, Quiz No.3, Quiz No.4, Quiz No.5, Quiz No.6, Quiz No.7, Quiz No.8, Quiz No.9, Quiz No.10, Quiz No.11, Quiz No.12, Quiz No.13, Quiz No.14, Quiz No.15, Quiz No.16, Quiz No.17, Quiz No.18, Quiz No.19, Quiz No.20, Quiz No.21, Quiz No.22, Quiz No.23, Quiz No.24, Quiz No.25, Quiz No.26, Quiz No.27, Quiz No.28, Quiz No.29 and Quiz No.30.

MA: "We're going up against a side that are probably going to finish in the top three or four."https://t.co/JrhhmjdFkM#ImpsAsOne #ProudToBeImps #OUFC pic.twitter.com/yE67jz6Iad

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