No Fresh Injury Worries As Imps Plot Seaside Raid

Michael Skubala has confirmed there are no fresh injury concerns as City prepare for a trip to Blackpool this weekend.

With Adam Jackson, Oscar Thorn, James Collins and Ben House out, the Imps’ squad is being tested, but the depth of that test will be no greater than it was against Barnsley, a game City won 3-1.

Instead, they face a Blackpool side fresh from beating Rotherham 3-0 with a relatively clean bill of health, aside from those we know about. That allays fears that Tom Bayliss may have been out, following his withdrawal on Tuesday night.

“He is good,” Michael said in his pre-match press conference, when quizzed on Bayliss. “Yeah, he has trained today, so that is great news.

“He had a bit of a contact injury, which is could be could be worse than it is, but yeah, he is he is got through that nicely and trained with the group.”

Bayliss has formed a solid midfield partnership with Conor McGranadles, and he bagged on Tuesday night with a delicious chip following the Barnsley equaliser. News that he is fit and ready to go is exciting, as is the news that nobody else picked up knocks.

“Everybody else is good,” added Michael, who saw his team climb to third in midweek. “A few tired bodies, a few tired legs because it was a high-intensity game, which was great.

“I thought we were superb at that. We were superb in our pressing. It is just patching a few bodies up, but we will be ready to go Saturday.”

One player who may need patching up a little more than most is Dom Jefferies. He made a start on the left side of attack, underlining his billing as a versatile player. He’s on the road to recovery and in his pre-match interview, he admitted he is still a little short of what he considers being fully match fit.

When asked by Rob Makepeace if he felt he was fully fit, he smiled.

“Maybe not. Just about I was struggling after about 60/70 minutes uh on Tuesday night, but I’m getting there slowly.

“It’s obviously positive after the first game I played, I think I would have played for about 5 minutes! I couldn’t breathe, but yeah, it’s just slow steps and getting me back to full fitness.”

His being the player presented to the press before the game is an indication he’ll be involved again this weekend, and if his first-half display is anything to go by, the sooner he does get back to 100%, the sooner we can see a player who can make a real impact.