Michael Appleton: “We’ll be trying to utilise that as much as we possibly can on Saturday.”

Michael Appleton had news of another player injury, potentially season-ending; in the build-up to the vital clash with AFC Wimbledon.

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Ipswich Game: The Tractor Boys set the standards of play that MA aspires for his team to work towards achieving going forward but that’s for another season. On the day the big difference between the sides was the quality shown in the final third, evident during the first twenty minutes when the Imps were very much in the game. It was probably the best performance by a side against the Imps this season.

“I’ve not really thought about the game much since it’s happened. My focus has been on Wimbledon and trying to make sure we try and take the three points on Saturday”.

Injury Updates: A few players as expected are 50/50 for the weekend.

“I suppose the bonus, the fact that we were sensible enough to rest the likes of Tom Hopper and Joe Walsh gives us an opportunity to use those guys which makes us obviously stronger”.

MA had bad news regarding Josh Griffiths. The indications are that his ankle injury will probably take about six weeks to heal and as such is likely to be season-ending for him. MA thanked Josh for his efforts and believes that the player will have developed well, benefitting from the amount of football he has played over the last two seasons both at Lincoln and Cheltenham previously.

From there MA ‘segued’ into the immediate goalkeeping situation. It’s possible that an emergency loan can be signed; however, that carries the caveat that anybody brought in under that arrangement must be selected to play.

Jordan Wright had been fine at Ipswich, appearing comfortable and confident – handling the situation well. For the most part, MA felt Jordan’s distribution had been ok as well.

Three at the Back: What the system brings via the extra defender is more security when defending crosses; solidity at set plays and corners. From an attacking perspective, dependent upon the personnel available, the wing-backs make the pitch big, inputting width and enable play to be quickly switched.

“We’ll be trying to utilise that as much as we possibly can on Saturday”.

AFC Wimbledon: MA recognised the Dons are on a poor winless run and in that respect they are not in a good place. However, he also noted they have drawn a lot of games within that and rarely do they lose heavily; it’s usually a narrow margin. Wimbledon players are still demonstrating the spirit and energy levels to stay in games which makes them dangerous.

“We’ve got to go there with a professional attitude about making sure it just becomes about the three points. We’d love a good performance, of course we would; but ultimately it comes down to the three points”.

MA whilst recognising it as another opportunity to put distance between the bottom four, isn’t really distinguishing between games at this time as they are all very important. He has a good idea of the points required to ensure safety and it is simply about accruing those as quickly as possible no matter which games they come from.

Have a go at our Lincoln City versus AFC Wimbledon quizzes, published last season (they were all correct at the time they were published).

Michael Appleton: "We'll be trying to utilise that as much as we possibly can on Saturday."https://t.co/nrasSInFnh#AFCW #ImpsAsOne

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) March 11, 2022