‘Huge Jump’ Lincoln City Head Coach Michael Skubala Looks Ahead To The Championship

Michael Skubala has admitted there is a ‘huge jump’ for Lincoln City to make this summer, heading into the Championship.

The Imps signed off in style by making it 29 matches unbeaten, coming out 2-0 victors against Port Vale. That took us to 103 points, which means we actually secured promotion with the 1-0 win at Exeter back in March. That moved us to 77 points, and with our goal difference, would have been enough for the leap up.

That means the 2-0 win at Cardiff really did have parallels with the 2-0 win at MK Dons in 2019, but the leap back then isn’t as big as the one we’re about to make, according to manager Michael Skubala.

“I think every jump is hard,” Michael said ahead of the weekend’s win at Port Vale.

“I think League One to the Champ is a huge jump. I think Champ to the Prem is a huge jump as well for different reasons. The games are going to change. You’re going to have different nights.

“There are lots of things operationally we need to look at. The teams, some of them have got huge parachute payments and it could be six teams.”

Despite the challenges that lie ahead, there is no fear from Michael or the playing squad, who arrived in Las Vegas for their post-match celebrations this week. Instead, there is excitement across the club at what might be achievable next season.

“We know how hard it is to stay in any league, let alone the Championship, but we’re excited by that. But we’ve not really thought too much about the future in terms of those things. We’ve thought about the future in terms of operations and obviously going into a window and then what the strategy needs to look like.

“But at this point in time, we’ve probably just been enjoying the winning and just been enjoying the league title. So, I think it’s really important to enjoy moments.”

Indeed, it is, and while the 46-game season is over, the time for enjoyment continues. There is the open-topped bus parade, which some of us will be missing due to prior commitments, as well as plenty to celebrate and look forward to over the summer.