‘The Right Call’ – Michael Skubala On Lincoln City Match Postponement

Michael Skubala believes the decision to postpone the game between Lincoln City and Doncaster Rovers is the right one, given the different factors.

It means a midweek trip before the end of the season, and causes fans disruption, but with up to five players potentially involved in international football, combined with the growing injury list, the decision to postpone seems obvious.

In his pre-match press conference, Michael outlined the thinking behind such a decision.

“It’s never an easy decision because we appreciate the fans have bought tickets and wanted to see us on a Saturday, and now it’s going to be moved to a Tuesday.

“But when you look at where we’ve been over the last couple of weeks, and add in the fact we could have four or five call-ups for different reasons, which are out of our hands, we could be depleted on that day.

“Along with that, some players could do with a bit of a breather and a rest, and it feels like a good moment to reset. We want to keep the momentum going, that’s for sure, so we thought long and hard about it.

“But you also want to make sure you’re at your strongest to fight for three points against Doncaster, and we didn’t feel like we would be.”

Adam Reach and Freddie Draper are currently out, joining Adam Jackson, Josh Honohan and long-term absentee James Collins. Ivan Varfolomeev and Ryan Oné have been called up by their nations so far, but that may not be the end of the international call-ups.

That, combined with players who are fit, but perhaps feeling the effects of trips to Cardiff, Exeter and Huddersfield in recent weeks, as well as a gruelling game against Stockport, means the game is sensibly called off for now.

Michael revealed that it isn’t just those we hear about being called up who affect the decision.

“We have to work off long lists rather than short lists. The challenge with international players is that if they’re on a long list, they could be called up at any point, even the day before or on the day itself if there’s an injury.

“As soon as they go onto a long list, they become part of our thinking rather than waiting for a finalised squad. That will all come out in due course, but we’ve got five players who could potentially be involved internationally.”

I have already had some social media messages saying, ‘it’s alright for you, you live close enough,’ or  ‘this will impact the attendance,’ but I dispute those claims. Firstly, as the 0-0 draw at Bradford showed, the attendance won’t be hugely impacted by being rearranged; it is the day’s drinking beforehand for fans that will be impacted.

Also, the nuances of how the game affects me are not really important, nor the nuances of how it affects you. The only goal, surely, is promotion at the end of the season, and rearranging the fixture is in the best interest of the club, pure and simple. Mercenary? Yes, maybe, but that’s football. Hopefully, we won’t need to worry about it next year.

Also, for those still miffed and arguing that this is why we have a deeper squad, no, it is not. We have a deeper squad to cover injuries in games we have no option but to call off. The club have to make a decision based on sporting advantage, and in this instance, whether it affects you, me or the gatepost, that decision has to be made purely with three points in mind, injuries, deep squad or not.