With a third of the season now in the bank, the Imps sit second in the table, level on points with Stockport County, who are top.
At times, we’ve been really good (Luton, for instance). At times, we’ve stumbled a little (Orient), and recently, we’ve been grinding. We ground out a win yesterday, and we were ground down ourselves a week ago. We’ve not been bad, but there is a feeling we could have been even better.
That’s surely great, then, knowing that we’re second and there is still more to come.
It’s certainly a learning curve for the players, but it feels like we’re reaching close to what Michael Skubala wants, and as he reflected on a third of the season having gone this weekend, he shared his insights on the learning the squad has taken away.
“I think it shows you what you need to win games, which is everything,” our head coach said in the aftermath of our 2-1 win against Doncaster Rovers. “You need the ability from the players. You need a good squad depth, and I’m pleased that we’re starting to get some players back after a few injuries that crept up on us.”
Injuries have dogged us in previous seasons, but the squad depth this time out has been impressive. Losing Jack Moylan wasn’t the damaging blow it could have been, and even having Reeco Hackett and Ben House out didn’t push us to postpone yesterday’s game.
Now, with House back yesterday and Don Jefferies back in the squad, it feels like we’re coming to a good place in terms of personnel, which bodes well for the tough Christmas period.
Perhaps, of all our home games, the Doncaster one was an example of another key learning point, for fans and players. It’s not always going to be pretty.
“You need to have the mentality to see games out,” Michael added. “You need to win ugly sometimes, and you need to be able to play and open teams up. So I think it’s all about balance.
“I think because it’s the third of the season, it still doesn’t feel like it’s settled. When you look at Doncaster today, if they get three points off us, they’re four points away. If you look at the bottom of the league, it’s really tight. It is a different feel to the league this year than it was last year.”
The result against Doncaster lifted us to second in the table, joint top for the rose-tinted brigade, but as Michael pointed out, there is a long way to go and nothing is won in November. Other teams have games in hand, and the next big threshold will be Christmas.
That’s where the club’s next focus is.
“We just want to concentrate on ourselves and keep trying to chip away at the points,” he concluded. “Then we always say, ‘Let’s get out the back of January and see where we are'”
With Stockport, Cardiff, Bolton and Huddersfield to play in a packed Christmas schedule, many might feel it is entering the front end of January which will tell us what we need to know. After two tough Christmas periods in a row for Michael, this one could be era-defining.
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