Imps boss Michael Skubala has outlined how he wants to win tomorrow night’s clash with Chesterfield, even with squad rotation.
City are at home against the Spireites, who opened their campaign in this competition with a penalties win against Manchester City Under 21s, making a victory important. The EFL Trophy might not be the foremost competition on fan’s minds, but it’s a great way to earn some money, and the only true viable route to Wembley, other than the play-offs.
We’ve been deep in the competition twice, winning it in 2018 and making the semi-final in 2021, going out on penalties. Both times it was impressive once we navigated the group stages, and Michael is very clear about how he sees the game in terms of the overall season.
“I want to win the game,” said Michael, who oversaw his tenth away win as Imps boss this weekend, making him the second-quickest manager to achieve such a feat, after Bill Anderson. “That’s the first and foremost. I want to win the game.
“You know, the cup game is a really good opportunity for the club to try and go further in a competition, especially this competition. We know Wembley, so I want to win the game. We’ll put a team on the pitch that we think is competitive.”
City are expected to start some players who haven’t had that in the league—Zack Jeacock started the EFL Cup game against Huddersfield, while Freddie Draper, JJ McKiernan, Lewis Montsma, and Tom Hamer are all likely to be among the players vying to start the game.
Michael confessed there will be changes, but they won’t be changes for the sake of making them.
“There’ll be a few changes, of course, but it’s not that we’re changing to give people minutes. We’re changing to win the game and keep it fresh. Obviously, we’ll have to look at some players as well, but first and foremost, our objective is to win this game of football.”
“There are a few players in there that have been chomping at the bit to get in the side.
If they get their opportunity, train well, and earn a starting shirt, they have to show us. Like I’ve always said, we’ve now got competition for places. If they are in this game and it’s an opportunity to start and do well, then hopefully they can be in with a chance to start the next league game as well.”
For the boss, it’s not just about winning a game of football, but instead possibly winning some silverware. The 2018 victory gave the team a day out at Wembley, and generated income which helped fund the push to the League Two title a season later. That’s one reason why fans might like to see the competition taken seriously, and Michael agrees.
“We want to take this competition very seriously, and getting off on the right foot gives us a foothold in the group, which is important. Because we haven’t got a game Saturday, it might give us a little bit of a chance to play. We can go again with some players, but ultimately, it’s about getting the balance of the team right. The first objective is to try and win the game.
“I think we want to win the game so we can get our noses in front in the group. As the season progresses, you don’t know what’s going to happen, but we want to make sure that, first and foremost, we look after our own performance.”
It’s our first meeting with Chesterfield at the Bank since the 2017/18 season, when Michael Bostwick, and an own goal gave us a 2-1 win. We have met them in this competition before, back in 2003/04, when we secured a 4-3 win in extra time, having taken the lead three times, only to be pegged back three times.
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