MK: “He deserves huge, huge credit and all the plaudits that are coming his way.”

Ahead of back-to-back home fixtures versus Morecambe, Mark Kennedy highlighted what he personally hoped to glean from the imminent World Cup before recognising the contribution Regan Poole makes to the side in advance of his 100th appearance for The Imps.

You can discuss what Mark Kennedy has said ahead of this match HERE, as well as get involved with our pre-match threads: You can post your score predictions, discuss the starting XI, and predict the attendance!

Morecambe: Adam Jackson is likely to be the only different personnel availability issue from the previous match as he is nursing a sore hamstring. On the matter of playing the same opponents twice at home in quick succession MK candidly disclosed that in his mind it was not ideal but without speaking for Morecambe, they probably feel the same way. However, whilst he would have preferred different cup opposition what he really wanted was a home tie and MK knew that was guaranteed (due to topping The EFL Trophy group).

MK sees it as important to sign off with a good result going into the mini break from league competition. “It’s nice to walk away being in a good place as opposed to having to wait a considerable period of time to put it right next game”.

World Cup: MK still sees it as a strange time of year to be holding the World Cup. Finding time to watch games will be the issue and he will probably watch games when it gets to the nitty gritty stage. From his perspective, he purely watches the games as a coach, no longer as a fan. MK sees the World Cup as a useful barometer for contemporary coaching.

“Big tournaments tend to show up different types of trends especially with them being in blocks of four years. You see various different formations, trends, and how goals are scored, where they’re scored, positions, different types of crosses. So I think that will be fascinating from a World Cup point of view”.

MK sees the tournament as a valuable learning tool for coaches given that on the whole it features the best players and coaches contributing to the highest level of football.

As a side note, MK added the Imps squad had engaged in an open sweepstake which had been great fun to observe as it had further demonstrated the great camaraderie evident within the current group.

Regan Poole: As a part of the youngest League One squad Regan Poole should be proud of chalking up 100 appearances for The Imps.

“For him to get to that level already…..he deserves huge, huge credit and all the plaudits that are coming his way”.

MK praised the high-end individual characteristics RP demonstrated as a person. “He’s somebody we’re privileged and lucky to have in our club and we’re very proud of him and hopefully we can give him a nice day (Morecambe fixture)”.

MK went on to highlight the versatility of the player pointing out that although RP enjoyed playing as a centre-half in a ‘2’ or ‘3’ he was adept at playing right back or wing back. Pre-season MK had even considered playing RP as a defensive midfielder had the side deployed a 4-3-3 formation even though that had not transpired.

As a player, MK sees RP as an exponent of tough, robust, rounded play who has exemplary training to games played ratio/statistics (mental and physical fitness to play), probably the best at the club, and certainly in the top three. MK also sees much more to come from the player in the future; not least because he is still very young and furthermore from a coaching observation MK can see that RP has nowhere near reached his development ceiling.

MK: "He deserves huge, huge credit and all the plaudits that are coming his way."https://t.co/kOtmQtyLNU#ImpsAsOne #WeAreImps #UTS

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) November 18, 2022