Tom Shaw: “What would Man City look like without that, Liverpool without three-quarters of their forward line?”

Lincoln City are through to the knockout stages of the BSM Trophy after labouring to a 2-0 victory over League Two side Notts County.

You can discuss what Tom Shaw said in his post-match interview HERE.

NEW QUIZ: How much can you remember from the matches The Imps played in October? Have a go at the bottom of the article on click HERE to have a go!

Goals in each half from Jack Burroughs and Jack Vale, their respective firsts for the club, ensured the Imps bounced back from a disappointing display against Morecambe in the FA Cup, although this was hardly a performance to set the pulses racing.

After the 1,700 home fans in Sincil Bank were perplexed by the inclusion of a Gbolahan Okewoye on the bench – who, it turns out, is a highly rated first-year scholar – they didn’t have long to wait to celebrate a goal, as Burroughs burst forward to win possession, before slotting a neat effort past Adam Stone in the Magpies net.

Vale then fired over as City looked like making easy meat of a mediocre Notts side, but for some reason retreated into their shell, with only the oft-overlooked Dylan Duffy offering any creativity and knowhow, while it took an Adam Jackson clearance off the line to preserve the Imps lead.

City chose to sit back and let County come at them but, thankfully, the visitors lacked intent and after barely testing the recalled Jordan Wright in goal, Lincoln then sealed the win after 67 minutes, when man-of-the-match Duffy set Vale free and he raced past a defender to slam an effort past Stone.

Sub Hakeeb Adelakun and Burroughs both had late chances to add to the scoreline, but couldn’t find the target.

It was job done for interim boss Tom Shaw, who returned to winning ways after two defeats, and while it was a match that will not last long in the memory, it did serve to raise the morale in the squad after two disappointing outings. And earn bother £10,000 for the coffers.

“It was comfortable in the end,” admitted Shaw, who brought up the worrying subject of passiveness again among the ranks. “Notts play an interesting brand of football and they play the same style with whatever personnel they have on the pitch.

“I think we I think we solved it at half-time. We were perhaps a little bit passive, defending too deep in the first half, but the second we had a little trigger of how we could get after their centre-halves. The players that did it were brilliant at it and did it with conviction and aggression and really unsettled them.

“We won the ball high up the pitch and we then had more of the ball and like we always do, carried a fantastic threat on the counter, so it became comfortable-ish towards the end, and it was a really pleasing evening’s work.”

Shaw praised both Jacks for their goalscoring contributions, saying of Burroughs: “I am really pleased for Jack. He’s been great since he’s come in. He’s a brilliant lad, trains very well every day. He’s open-minded to everything you throw at him. He’s had a great education at Coventry. I am delighted that he got his goal.”

On Vale, he added: “Jack’s shift was tough in the first half. We were defending perhaps a little bit too deep and he had to manage both centre-halves. He felt it a bit in his legs and then he knew he was coming off and he had that last burst of energy and it was a really nice finish.”

Shaw also gave Duffy praise and hinted that he could be in line for his first league start of the season against Vale.

“Dylan has shown brilliant traits in the last few weeks, he’s shown real hunger,” he went on. “We know about his ability, he’s a powerful boy, he’s got a great left foot and he’s just been finding his feet a little bit in in our environment, but the last few weeks he’s just looked like a different animal and he’s deserved his opportunities over the last couple of weeks.”

When asked if he has a serious chance of being in the starting XI against the Valiants on Saturday, Shaw added: “Absolutely. It’s what we want as a coaching team. We’ve we’ve got a really exciting fixture and we know what the outcome would mean.

“We have 70% of our forward line unavailable and I think that gets forgotten about – what would Man City look like without that, Liverpool without three-quarters of their forward line? It affects any group of players and our lads have had some big results in the league.

“They’ve bounced back, showed big character, personality, and I think they’re a brilliant group of players who have massive potential and as that forward line starts dripping back in, what could we look like?”

Shaw also revealed that Alex Mitchell,, Teddy Bishop and Danny Mandroiu were minor doubts for the weekend after not being involved in the squad.

He concluded: “We’re hoping all three will be available – precautionary for two, one with an illness.”

Writer: The Imposter

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

Tom Shaw: “What would Man City look like without that, Liverpool without three-quarters of their forward line?”https://t.co/s41sb6QkEh#WeAreImps #Notts #EFLTrophy

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) November 8, 2023