Michael Appleton: “We don’t want to be one of those headlines on Sunday morning.”

Michael Appleton outlined his philosophy and the slightly different preparation required to face lower league opposition, ahead of the FA Cup tie versus Bowers & Pitsea.

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Preparation: Researching for the game is trickier than for a League 1 fixture.

“Much more difficult than a normal league game for two reasons really. One, is you tend to know 99.9% of the players you’re up against most weeks; you’re aware of them and how they play, them as individuals, the coaches, etc., etc. The other one is obviously footage. The footage that we get of League 1 opponents in terms of the angle, where it’s at, being able to see how teams set up, how they play, all those things”.

MA mentioned Jake who is the club’s opposition analyst, he has done a good job enabling MA to have a good idea of how Bowers and Pitsea set up and play.

The Game Itself: MA has previously encountered sides from much lower leagues so the match-up is not a new experience. All of the cup competitions have been good to him over the years, with MA putting some of that down to his approach. He has always taken them seriously, never disrespected the competitions.

Whilst MA will make some changes it won’t be ‘ridiculous’. There is a balance to be observed whereby the team that goes out is set up on the basis that they want to win the game. There will be a couple of changes, to freshen things up as much as anything. There have been three games in the previous week and from very early in the Shrewsbury game MA could see a few players were below par.

Selection-wise, Teddy Bishop and Adam Jackson have followed different concussion protocols due to the respective impact of their injuries. Teddy has a chance of playing v Bowers, Adam will be available for the Doncaster fixture.

“We don’t want to be one of those headlines on Sunday morning, on the back of newspapers, as being one of the first upsets in this year’s FA Cup. We will be going out there to make sure it doesn’t happen”.

The Pros and Cons of the Upcoming International Break: MA saw plusses and minuses to the fortnight off, after the FA Cup tie. He recognised an opportunity to get some previously injured players back into the fold, plus provide some breathing space for those that have picked up and been playing with knocks recently.

“At the same time it was a little bit frustrating last Saturday, but in terms of the way the lads are performing they’re playing pretty well. We’re back to really good away performances at Sheffield Wednesday and Wigan. Yeah, the players are in a good place, but overall the bigger picture, if it allows me to bring two or three new bodies back into the group by the time we play Doncaster, I think it will be a good thing”.

Writer: hulloutpost

Michael Appleton: "We don't want to be one of those headlines on Sunday morning."https://t.co/16zlodM6tg#ImpsAsOne #UpTheBowers #FACup

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) November 5, 2021