Lincoln City head coach Michael Skubala has earmarked Stevenage as the ‘toughest away game in League One’ despite their recent defeat against Bolton.
Only one of our last seven games has had more than a single goal, and there have been two from open play in the last five encounters. Stevenage are notorious for being tough to beat: they have only conceded 11 goals at home, have only lost twice, but have scored fewer than Exeter City and the same as relegated Rotherham United.
This week, they were beaten 5-1 by Bolton, but had a man sent off in a truly uncharacteristic performance. Under Alex Revell, they’ve thrived, and their story perhaps hasn’t had enough exposure because of our own surge to the top of the table, but Michael Skubala was quick to point out how good they are.
“I think it’s probably the toughest game away from home that you can get in League One,” Michael said in his pre-match press conference.
“I think they’ve lost two at home all season. They’re very good at staying in games. Probably one of the anomalies people will look at is Bolton, but it was a tough game until the sending off, and we know what a sending off at Bolton can do to you. So I don’t think that’s the measure of them at all.”
They currently sit sixth in the table, three points ahead of Luton Town. and four clear of Huddersfield, having played a game fewer. With Barnsley, Doncaster and Wigan to play after us, defeat wouldn’t be the worst outcome, but defeat isn’t something that happens often. Their last home defeat came against Leyton Orient in March, with Cardiff the only other side to take three points from them on their own patch.
“They’re very well coached, Alex (Revell) has got them going. For their position, I think they’ve done very well this season. It shows the unity that they have. They’re physically dominant, so it’s going to be a really tough game.
“But like I say, every game we go into, we look to try and win it. We know how tough it will be on the day to get the upper hand.”
Michael was asked about budgets, and whether he saw comparisons between us, outperforming out budget position to win the league, and Stevenage, also performing strongly. The gist was surprise: did he feel surprised about the two clubs?
“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “Maybe we’ve surprised a few people, but that doesn’t surprise me either. I think we’re different teams, we play differently as well, but in terms of size of clubs and maybe size of budget, similar.
“Sometimes when you have a good work ethic, which they have and we have, and you try to maximise everything you have every day, you can pick up points. I think they’ve had a very good season so far, and it’s going to be a tough game, not just because of how well they play at home, but because of the points they need for the play-offs.”
They won’t drop out of the play-off race because of a defeat, and with Luton still to face Bolton, it could end up being close. Stevenage certainly won’t give a lot away, and there is a serious threat to our long unbeaten run going into this encounter.
City will win the title if both us and Cardiff win. Anything less than a Cardiff win will also hand us the title, whatever we do away at Broadhall Way tomorrow.
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