Ahead of the full house, Good Friday clash with Leyton Orient Michael Skubala opined the Imps were making pleasing progress, but equally had achieved nothing yet; so the team will be pushing hard to keep in the frame as the season plays out.
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You can discuss what Michael Skubala has said ahead of the match here, and get involved with our pre-match discussion!
The International Break and Run-In: MS doesn’t know whether the time off has been a detriment or helpful; it is a case of wait and see. There will be twists and turns, and bumps in the road before the season ends. How well the group deals with those will ultimately determine the success of the season.
It is great credit to the players that they have got the Imps this far, so far so good but nothing has been won. To get over the line it will be necessary to push hard and push again. It will be very disappointing to not do so. The squad is a young group, as such efforts will be made to find ways enabling them to remain focussed.
MS fully expects other teams to pick up points which means that it is essential to pick up enough points of ‘our’ own to remain in the frame with three or four games to go and see where we are then.
Development of the Side: When MS came in the group were already really strong defensively.
“Their desire to keep the ball out of the back of the net is as good as anybody I’ve seen”
For MS it was about keeping the good points and building on that, developing throughout the pitch whilst maintaining the mentality of being hard to beat – have an aggressive structure based around that. MS feels the group have that and he is looking to improve the areas where MS thinks the side can get better.
“We’re a tough team to play against”. That is the bedrock, thereafter work can be done on possession, how to hurt teams and score goals – the hardest part of the game.
MS concurred there was a moment in the Wycombe game where the players could feel how ‘we’ wanted to play.
“From that point onwards we’ve tried to replicate something like that in each performance”
Within that, there have been tweaks to tactics, structure and the system but MS hopes the style has remained very similar and the Imps can now be viewed as a side with a style that ‘we’ all want to be.
Essentially that has been achieved by work, day in and day out on the training pitch.
“You don’t see the work on a Saturday, you see the product of the work on the Saturday”.
The hard work is done to improve individually and collectively a little bit every day. It takes good players with diligence, good coaching staff. That is why and how the results are being seen.
It’s a Squad Game: Credit goes to the whole squad led by Paudie as skipper, as people have stepped in and performed when required.
“You don’t win leagues, and you don’t get points, and you don’t get results with eleven players. Modern football’s changed. I think playing eleven players, finishing with eleven has gone”.
A squad needs ‘numbers’, extra players containing competitiveness within that group. Training mentality is required so that when called upon to do a job it is done to the best ability. If players do that they will keep the shirt, if they don’t somebody else will be ready to take it. In that respect MS has been really pleased with al the players. He feels the players know MS puts his trust in them to do the job and hopefully, they reward that trust with good performances.
Leyton Orient: It is a tough fixture against a really good team who have enjoyed some decent form. MS agreed it was the proverbial ‘six-pointer’ whereby the ‘O’s’ if victorious can go level with the Imps, whilst in turn, Lincoln want to keep abreast of the competitors ahead of them.
Ethan Erhahon’s suspension is one of those bumps in the road, a great challenge, having been a stalwart in his position throughout the season. Perhaps the break will actually give him a healthy rest.
It will be necessary to ‘jiggle’ (sic) the midfield around but MS is unconcerned. There are good players with experience to come in and take on the EH role.
On a positive note, MS confirmed that Ben House has resumed training and the expectation is that he will take some part in the Good Friday head-to-head.
Writer: hulloutpost
Skubala: "We've tried to replicate something like that in each performance."https://t.co/NlsEh5lKi3#WeAreImps #LOFC #OneOrient
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) March 27, 2024
