Tom Shaw has warned Lincoln City to beware the underdog as the interim head coach prepares to lead the Imps once more this weekend as they host League Two side Morecambe in the FA Cup first round.
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You can discuss what Tom Shaw has said ahead of this match here, as well as get involved with pre-match discussion!
After being handed a rare home draw, City look to have a decent chance of making the second round of the famous competition after pulling the Shrimps out of the hat, but Shaw says he expects a tough afternoon, just a few days after a poor showing against Oxford United in the league.
“They are a good side and have recruited really well,” said Shaw of Morecambe, who were relegated from League One last season.
“Players who have fallen off the radar a little bit have been given an opportunity and the manager knows how to win, how to maximise his players. It will be a really tough test for us and they come here in underdog mode, and we’ve got to understand that and fight back, punch back and try and dominate the fixture.
“This club has had brilliant success in recent times. We are excited by this fixture. We know they are going well in their division, but we really want to get after them with the football.
“The confidence the lads have shown in the last four fixtures with the ball, and the bravery they have shown, I am really pleased with that and that was the challenge on morning one. It was trying to shift the mindset and gain some confidence over a period of time.
“Fair play to the group they have gone really big with that and done well with it, so our gameplay will be to try and dominate them with the ball.”
And Shaw, who will be overseeing his fifth match from the dugout, as the Imps search for a permanent new boss continues, knows they let the fans down in midweek and so is hoping they can give them something to cheer on Saturday afternoon.
“We perhaps didn’t give the supporters enough to shout about on Tuesday night and that will be part of the chats in the next 48 hours, where we will try and excite people and get them right behind us,” he added. “There’s the potential of it being a really good day on Saturday.
“It’s an opportunity to start a journey and hopefully get to the latter stages and see who we can come up against along the way.”
City, though, will be without Sean Roughan, with the young Irishman the latest player to be spending some time in the treatment room, after injuring an ankle against Oxford, although Shaw doesn’t think he will be out for long.
“I think he will be a concern for Saturday,” Shaw admitted. “It’s an ankle where he’s had trouble before. He landed funny on it from a header. It didn’t look great this morning, but he will have an MRI scan. Hopefully, he’ll be back pretty sharpish.”
Better news emerging from the casualty list is the pending return of Tyler Walker, but it could still be a few weeks before fans see him back in the side.
“He’s a little bit away from being involved in a match day,” revealed Shaw. “He’s working with the medical team at the minute, doing loads of hard work, getting him up to speed and building his robustness. And then he’ll be dripped into the group sessions over time, into the non-contact stuff and knowing Tyler he’ll want to be straight into his finishing around the goal and practising that, but he’ll have to be patient, as will we.
“It’s an important period for all of us, one that we’ll have to manage well. We want him available as soon as possible, but we’ve got to do it professionally and patiently.”
Reflecting on the Oxford defeat, which was his first while in caretaker charge, Shaw not only admitted that his players weren’t up to scratch, but also highlighted the quality that United possessed, with many onlookers describing them as the best league team to play at Sincil Bank this season.
“It was perhaps a game too far, physically, for us,” said Shaw. “There were a few moments where we couldn’t quite get there to disrupt their flow…. while there were also moments where we didn’t look too far away. They were a bit cleaner in their work. The most pleasing for me was that our players showed real bravery and kept trying.
“We were too nice with the ball, too passive, when we should have been progressive with control.
“The physical levels were fine, we just couldn’t get to the peak where we had in the previous three fixtures.”
Writer: The Imposter
Thank you to Graham Burrell and Lincoln City Football Club for the photograph!
Tom Shaw: "He's a little bit away from being involved in a match day."https://t.co/m8w1kmuYcn#WeAreImps #UTS #EmiratesFACup
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) November 2, 2023
