Michael Skubala was keen to explain how his side hasn’t achieved anything going into this potentially massive weekend for the Imps.
Currently, four teams can catch City in the hunt for a top-two spot, but a win on Saturday will realistically reduce that to just one. Three points rule out Bradford and Stevenage, and with Bolton playing Stockport Easter Monday, one (or both) will drop points, putting the other as the only team with a chance.
Two wins for the Imps, and it doesn’t matter, as we’d be 18 points clear with just 15 left to play for. As far as Easter weekends go, this is right up there with 2016/17, and if anything, it puts us on the precipice of a leap into the unknown waters of the Championship.
Fans are excited, but speaking to BBC Radio Lincolnshire’s Rob Makepeace ahead of the fixture, the Imps’ head coach wasn’t getting carried away at all.
“I think we’re calm,” said Michael. “I think we’re calm anyway because, as much as people are talking about it, we haven’t done it. That’s the reality. We’ve done nothing.
“Of course, we’re in a great position. Of course, we are fighting for every three points. But football can turn really quickly. I think everybody that’s been in football, whether you’re a fan, whether you’re in the media, whether you’re a coach, know that things can turn quickly in football either way.”
Things can turn quickly in football, but even six defeats, back-to-back, would still leave us with something to play for on the final day of the season. Imps’ fans are hoping we can tie it up on Friday, where a win for us, coupled with anything other than a win for Stockport and Bolton, would be enough.
They face Wycombe and Plymouth respectively, two sides fighting for promotion, and the form table favours us. Plymouth are 2nd, ahead of Bolton in 7th in the ten-game table, while Wycombe (9th) are ahead of Stockport (13th). We’re first, ahead of Wimbledon in 18th, meaning if it all goes to form, we’ll be a Championship side before the chocolate eggs are open.
Maybe I’m getting carried away, and that’s not something Michael is willing to do.
“The first thing is we’re not getting carried away ourselves,” he added. “We’re really humble, and we have a lot of humility about trying to go to work every day.
“We will prep this game the same. When it happens, it happens, you know that’s great, but at this point, we haven’t done anything.
“So there is no calming down to do because we haven’t achieved anything.”
Wimbledon have won two of the last three meetings between the two clubs. They beat us 2-0 earlier in the season, when Adam Jackson’s red card and a Matty Stevens penalty gave them a big first-half advantage. They also won 1-0 on their last trip to Sincil Bank, again when an early penalty, conceded by Conor McGrandles, gave them a slender lead to defend.
We have never scored against the current incarnation of Wimbledon at the Bank, the only other meeting being 0-0. Quirkily, we’ve played them five times at their place, but only twice at home, having gone there in the FA Cup in 2017, and having not completed the home fixture in the 2019/20 season.
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