Three Things The Imps Need To Do To Beat Oxford United (a)

Ahead of tomorrow night’s match away at Oxford United 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.

You can discuss what has been said in this article HERE, as well as get involved with our pre-match threads: You can post your score predictions, discuss the starting XI and post your attendance predictions!

Here’s what sedgleyimp said:

1. Have a gamble. One of my go-to trivia questions concerns getting people to name the only country who were undefeated in the 2010 World Cup Finals. The answer is New Zealand, who drew all three of their group games. The net result was they failed to qualify for the second round and went home. Now that achievement might be good enough for the New Zealand FA to crow about, but the reality of our situation is that if we remain undefeated for the whole season yet sit in 46 points come May, we will be in a very precarious position in the league table. The impression I have had from the initial three games of this league season is that we have been content to protect the point late on in games. That’s all well and good but just sometimes having that bit of a late gamble can get you those two extra ones, and such risks really do have to be made sometimes and an away game at Oxford, a ground I am struggling to remember us winning at, is the kind of game to have that gamble.

2. Substitutions have to be done at the right times. I couldn’t go to the Forest Green game, but it is very clear that many supporters think our substitutions could and should have been made earlier and the full allocation of them used. Reports suggest Tom Hopper was struggling with almost a full half hour still to go, yet he played for a good twenty-odd minutes longer. I appreciate that game plans are made and Hopper is a key ingredient in ours with his lone striker ability, but if a player can’t run then those plans need adapting. I have said before that this season will be defined by how teams use the five subs allowance. Forest Green did it well on Saturday with the introduction of Wickham. We need to use them smarter.

3. Round Pegs in Round Holes. It’s good that we have some players who are able to play in more than one position and are happy to do so, but does that take away some of their abilities from the positions they are most comfortable in? Ted Bishop is very much a point to this. He had an excellent game in the cup at Doncaster playing in his preferred central midfield role then found himself in the wide left role on Saturday. Only after an enforced switch did he become more involved in the game. Now we have Garrick in on loan plus Vernam back to fitness so hopefully, players will be selected based upon the game plan rather than on who they are.

Thank you to Graham Burrell and Lincoln City Football Club for the photograph!

Three Things The Imps Need To Do To Beat Oxford United (a):https://t.co/7v0vCzkVd0#OUFC #ImpsAsOne #WeAreImps

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) August 15, 2022