Michael Appleton: “It’s something that needs to be addressed between now and the end of the season.”

Ahead of the significant fixture versus Morecambe, Michael Appleton had a forthright view with regard to players that are constantly injured.

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Latest Defensive Injury Woes: Adam Jackson has a calf injury. It presents as a strain having all the characteristics and swelling of one, but it is not showing as such on the scan. AJ has not trained since Burton and the symptoms have not subsided in any way, shape, or form. Regan Poole has a sore foot following a block he put in during the MK game, and Teddy Bishop is struggling with his known groin issue that does need managing; whether that means resting him or restricting his in-game time.

Joe Walsh will make a welcome return to availability.

The long-term absence of central defensive players has been a source of frustration for MA. Regan Poole and TJ Eyoma have performed manfully in the role but ultimately they are right-backs.

MA was pressed whether having players consistently unavailable affected his thinking for next season:

“I’ve been doing it for a while. At the end of the day that’s football; you’ve got to be ruthless, you’ve got to make the right decisions for the football club. Players are not daft, they’re not stupid. They know that for us to be able to rely on them and trust them going forwards it works both ways a little bit. I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t do that, think that. It’s something that needs to be addressed between now and the end of the season”.

Important Phase of the Season: MA concurred that the next eight or nine games will probably define the season although ironically the Imps have previously been picking their points up against the teams at the top of the league.

“The reality is if we do the business in these next five or six games, we know that we’re more than capable of beating the sides at the top of the table. Obviously, that would put us in a really comfortable position”.

MA is not concerned about the players still being able to express their footballing style despite the necessity to secure points. He pointed to the start and finish of the MK Dons game to illustrate his point, but went on to add that he was fed up with getting compliments from opponents about the good play from his teams when it wasn’t being backed up with results.

Morecambe: If the Imps play as they did at the start the game, the first twenty minutes at Morecambe, then MA will be happy and the team will do fine. It was what followed in that match that concerned him, and it was probably the only time this season when he actually had to question the attitude of the players.

MA will be really, bitterly disappointed if there is a repeat, given where both teams are in the league.

Writer: hulloutpost

Michael Appleton: "It's something that needs to be addressed between now and the end of the season."https://t.co/LqMHU1Jrco#ImpsAsOne #Shrimps

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) February 7, 2022