The Imps travel to Crawley tomorrow for the first time since winning in our League Two title season.
On that occasion, we brushed aside a poor Crawley outfit by three goals to nil, and the expectation from supporters is for more of the same. However, after a tough afternoon at the weekend, head coach Michael Skubala was under no illusions that this will still be a challenge.
In his pre-match interview with Rob Makepeace, he was eager to express that this game was worth three points, just like the clash against Birmingham City, and while it will be a different type of game, the rewards are the same.
“We treat every game in the way we treat it, which is important, and which is, I always say it, this is worth the same amount of three points as Saturday was,” said Michael.
“Even though they’re a big club that came to town and a very good team, we know that, the same amount of points is at stake here, so we have to treat it exactly the same. It’s going to be a tough place to go.
“The atmosphere probably won’t be anything like it was at the weekend. So we have to try and drive that.”
There will be some similarities – only Birmingham has more possession than Crawley in League One, a trend that has continued after former Imp Scott Lindsay left and Rob Elliott took over.
“They’re good with the ball,” confirmed Michael. “They dominate the ball a lot. So we’re going to be having to chase a lot of the ball at times, but if we put ourselves and be like us, I think we can dominate them in different ways.”
Michael admitted that he understands City will have to be patient, but at this level, every club is dangerous in moments, even a side with no wins in their last ten fixtures, league and cup. The 400+ travelling supporters will have to be patient as we look to strike at the right moment.
“We have to go and affect them and make them defend and hopefully we can create chances in different moments of the game.
“It’s going to be a really tough game. There’s no doubt in my mind that in this league, every game poses different challenges. And if you’re not on it, you can get hurt.
“Against teams that do dominate the ball, if you make one mistake in your structure, the way you press or anything like that, they can open the game up. So we have to be really patient with how we defend and then take the moments when it comes to.”
There were no obvious injury concerns revealed in the interview, with several players having bruises and knocks after the gruelling afternoon at the Bank this weekend.
Jovon Makama is expected back either tomorrow or at the weekend, while Tom Bayliss has joined Tyler Walker and Dylan Duffy on the treatment table.
There’s been no news of Adam Jackson’s scan, so Tom Hamer could once again be given the nod, which also facilitates a further chance for Lewis Montsma, who got his first Football League minutes in 19 months against the Blues.
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