The Imps will once again be without Ted Bishop tomorrow night as we hunt three points from a difficult trip to Oxford.
Only a win will keep our slender hopes of a top-six spot alive after five dropped points in two matches. One of those games, the 2-1 defeat against Wigan has all but ruled us out of the play-off race, and it was suffered without midfielder Ted Bishop.
It’s been confirmed by Michael Skubala that Bishop will once again miss out, as we head for an all-or-nothing encounter at the Kassam tomorrow night.
“[He’s] still struggling,” said Imps’ head coach Michael Skubala when asked about the former Ipswich midfielder ahead of the trip tomorrow. “We think he’s a little bit further away than this one. So yeah, not for tomorrow.”
That’s a big blow to any hopes of a final push for the top six, given that we are already down two central midfielders. Ethan Hamilton, a sure-fire contender for Player of the Season had he not gone down with injury, won’t be seen until next season. Conor McGrandles is also out, having only played a handful of games following his move on loan from Charlton.
McGrandles, who is now out of his boot and was seen at the ground this weekend, was added to the pack to back up Hamilton and Erhahon, but sadly, it hasn’t panned out like that. Danny Mandroiu, who scored on Saturday, and young Jack Moylan have both played centrally recently, out of position but not without passion.
“I think you can see that we’re hit with midfielders,” added Skubala, who was once again snubbed for Manager of the Month recently. “One of our ambitions was to have Ethan Hamilton and Conor McGrandles as part of that group.
“We’ve had to put players in there that have stepped up really well. Danny and Jack Moylan, they’ve never played in there. I like that. They’ve made some great performances over the course. So it does show you that you can do it.
“We need to just get our mentality right and go again and not worry about injuries, not worry about anybody else. We’ve just got to try and get to do our best to get three points.”
Oxford were at one point several goals behind the Imps in terms of goal difference, but three big wins, 4-0, 4-0 and 5-0, have catapulted them back into a play-off place they looked likely to lose their grip on. The difference between the two clubs is five points, so City will have to go and get something from the tie, not least because the final day visitors are Champions Elect, Portsmouth.
One wonders how many more central midfielders we’ll have lost by then in an injury-plagued season that promised so little for so long but has been quite the ride in the end.
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