Pompey (h): Three Things The Imps Need To Do To Win

Ahead of tomorrow night’s match at home against Portsmouth in League One, I asked the Vital Lincoln City members what three things they think The Imps need to do to pick up all three points.

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Here’s what sedgleyimp said:

1. Play the game and not get distracted by the other aspects of the match. Reading through Michael Appleton’s pre-match interview it does seem that the local media is trying to place far too much emphasis on the return of the Cowley’s tomorrow night. MA is rightly playing it down and this needs to be the team’s priority. Fortunately, none of our current team played under our previous boss so chances are they will be unaffected by the circus surrounding their return, but such talk can easily de-rail a team’s performance. This aspect needs to be understood by the supporters as well. Everyone knows what the Cowleys did for this club and they should be warmly welcomed back PRE-MATCH with applause. Once the game kicks off though supporters forget the past and get behind the current team in red and white. No booing either as that just galvanises returning players and coaches as evidenced by Alex Woodyard’s man-of-the-match performance in our last defeat.

2. Decision-making has to be spot on. I accept that we still have a young side and they are learning their trade whilst trying to perform at a high level. What was evident last Saturday in the away match at Doncaster was that we made several very good opportunities to score, or at the very least get a decent shot away or put in an early cross, but the decision-making was flawed. Some simple passes would have led to easier opportunities for other players and these need to be made.

3. Set pieces at both ends of the pitch. We have become slightly better over the past few weeks in actually getting goals from set-pieces, but it is a part of our game which still needs attention and improvement. Such set pieces are often the best opportunity we get during games. I did quite like the little piece of invention with a short cornet tried late on at Doncaster and it very nearly worked. That kind of invention will be key to success on Tuesday. We must however concentrate at all times when Portsmouth get a dead ball position. We all know how good Sean Raggett is at getting his head on such a cross and there is no doubt that Nicky Cowley will have a few ideas up his sleeve to try and take advantage of any lack of concentration in our defences. Keep your game heads on throughout.

Have a go at our Lincoln City versus Portsmouth Quizzes, published last season (they were all correct at the time they were published):

Pompey (h): Three Things The Imps Need To Do To Win:https://t.co/3aiAQ61GWm#ImpsAsOne #Pompey

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) November 22, 2021