Ahead of the important match against Bristol Rovers and with the season end rapidly approaching, Michael Appleton divulged he already has an eye on player recruitment for next season.
You can discuss what Michael Appleton said earlier today HERE, as well as many other topics on our 100% Imps forum! We have also published a Lincoln City v Bristol Rovers Quiz, which can be found just below the summary. Every page view helps raise money for Lincoln City Football Club!
Injury Update: It was a mixed bag of news with MA revealing that Adam Jackson, Joe Walsh and James Jones are all rated 50/50 for The Gas game. He quipped that he is now used to not having his centre backs available but in TJ Eyoma and Lewis Montsma we have players that have both played a lot of football and done ok when called upon.
The better news related to the current situation regarding Jorge Grant. The player has taken part in one non-contact session with the other players already, and if things go well Jorge may come into contention for the Hull fixture.
Bristol Rovers: MA stressed the importance of this game and the mindset required when not facing a team at the top end of the league. “I’m telling you now, those games are the easy ones (Hull etc.); they’re the games the players know there’s an expectation to perform…..but for me, the expectations to perform are in the games like tomorrow, and Burton Albion, Shrewsbury, coming up”. MA quantified his outlook by explaining it is those teams that are fighting for their lives or are mid-table so can play with freedom accordingly, in the case of the latter.
Rovers will undoubtedly want to improve on their poor home form but The Imps can take confidence from an excellent away record. “It’s going to be a very, very difficult game tomorrow; against a side who will be fighting for every single tackle and decision. They’re on the back of a good win last week”
MA was open-minded about how expansive Bristol would make the game, due to so much riding on the result for them.
Loan Players and Their Recruitment: MA had this to say on Brennan Johnson’s impact as a loan player. “A big thing for a club when they send a player on loan is knowing they trust the club they’re sending them to. Not just on the pitch; off the pitch – type of development they want, be it on the pitch or personal development”
The benefit for Lincoln is that the better it goes, the more it enhances the reputation of the club. Clearly, there are teams out there who see players on loan at Lincoln from different clubs, and they do really well. They then want a part of that for the development of their own players and success.
MA confirmed that dialogue started with a number of clubs a month ago when looking at which players will be on loan at Lincoln next season. He reminded people that he is looking to recruit less loan players and ideally would like to have a situation where they were there to cover for example an injury crisis. However, it is not that simple as there is a process that will necessarily need to be followed; especially taking into account ‘we’ have been really fortunate with the quality of the current crop.
“You want to be as successful as you possibly can; you want as much quality. It’s going to be very, very difficult next season to find as much quality as we have done this year in our loans. Which means that we have to 1) obviously bring in more permanents, but 2) the players that are in the building; their performance levels are going to have to go up a notch as well”.
Writer: hulloutpost
Have a go at our Lincoln City v Bristol Rovers Quiz below:
Thank you to Graham Burrell and Lincoln City Football Club for the photograph!
Michael Appleton: "The expectations to perform are in the games like tomorrow."https://t.co/MHe2sKpMXI#BristolRovers #ImpsAsOne #ProudToBeImps
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) April 16, 2021
