What is it with us and injury news? We spent the first half of the season with no strikers thanks to a concentration of injuries, and now our central midfield area is beyond depleted.
We signed Conor McGrandles on loan to complement Ethan Hamilton and Ethan Erhahon, a three-man midfield easily capable of playing in the top ten in League One. When Hamilton was ruled out for the season, we thanked our lucky stars that we had McGrandles, who would provide more than adequate cover for the rest of the season. He came second in the Player of the Month voting for February, underlining his importance.
Now, we may never see him in a Lincoln shirt again. He has been ruled out for the season, meaning he won’t appear again for Skubala under this current loan deal. We could sign him next season, but we’re back to ifs and buts. No, the bottom line right now is McGrandles second stint in a Lincoln City shirt is over.
It was only two months ago we got a sneak look at a report on injuries in the squad, and concluded that we didn’t have it worse than anyone else. Since then, we’ve lost Jack Burroughs to a long-term injury, seen Freddie Draper ruled out for a spell, and lost both McGrandles and Hamilton to season-ending issues. I wonder if the stats are quite as favourable now? It feels like we’ve been dogged by injuries for as long as I can recall, but if you ask other clubs, they’re the same. Charlton are on an upturn now because they’ve got players back, whilst Shrewsbury were decimated when they rolled over at our last week.
There are silver linings, I suppose. Firstly, it’s not like we’re going down this season, and after the weekend’s fixture, going up was a big stretch. It also gives us a chance to see more of Jack Moylan, a player who did really well on Saturday. He’s likely to play, with Ted dropping deeper alongside Ethan Erhahon when needed. It places a big weight on Ted’s shoulders in terms of game expectancy, but at the same time, it furthers his argument for a new deal. Having a player like Ted, able to play in a multitude of roles, is a positive, even if we’d like to see him further forward. It could also offer a pathway to redemption for Danny Mandroiu, who has been out of favour recently, although he too missed the last game through the dreaded ‘I’ word.
I generally don’t know what more to write at the moment. Charlie and I will discuss the matter on the podcast due out this evening, but for now, I’m just going to go into a corner and cry.
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