Lincoln City are waiting to discover how long Tom Hamer will be unavailable after the defender missed Saturday’s victory at Bolton Wanderers, but Tom Shaw believes it is ‘nothing major’.
Hamer was absent from the squad as we secured our first Championship win of the season, leaving Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen without another defensive option. Tendayi Darikwa is already facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, although the early indications suggest Hamer’s problem is considerably less serious.
Speaking ahead of our meeting with Blackburn Rovers, Shaw confirmed that the 26-year-old has undergone a scan. City are now waiting for the results to be assessed before putting a timescale on his return.
“We’re just waiting for the final diagnosis,” he said in today’s press conference.
“We don’t think it’s anything major or long-term, definitely not anything major long-term. We’ve just got to figure out how long it will be.
“He’s had the final parts of his scan, and then we’ll get all the information.”
Hamer has already featured for the Imps in both the Championship and Carabao Cup this season, and was an unexpected omission from the win against Bolton. Fans will hope the final diagnosis confirms Shaw’s initial assessment and that his absence is measured in days or weeks rather than months.
His availability is particularly important as we enter the first double Championship game week of the campaign. Blackburn visit Sincil Bank on Tuesday before Southampton make the trip to Lincoln at the weekend, giving the coaching staff decisions to make over recovery, rotation and team selection.
Shaw does not expect City’s preparation to change significantly from the approach used in League One. However, he acknowledged that the physical and mental demands are greater at Championship level and every player will be assessed individually.
“The processes are the same. Obviously, the level and intensity of these games are significantly higher, so we’re going to have to look after the lads physically and mentally and make sure they’re nice and fresh.
“We’ll look at what we do with players. Do we rotate? We’ll assess everything on an individual basis for the lads who played on Saturday and make the right calls.”
The victory at Bolton should provide a welcome lift heading into the two home fixtures, but City cannot afford to allow standards to slip against Blackburn. Shaw believes the demanding schedule is something to embrace as we continue adapting to life in the second tier.
“It’s an intense period, but this is what we do it all for. We want these games to come thick and fast. We want to get more points on the board and more learning as soon as possible, so we’re really excited.
“We have two tough home games to finish the week, but we can’t wait.”
City have played five times this season, but only once on home soil, and having those back-to-back home games is something Tom and the squad are excited about.
“I can’t think of many better places to watch a game than tomorrow night under the lights at Sincil Bank, off the back of a huge away win and with Blackburn Rovers coming to town. What an atmosphere it’s going to be.
“We’ve got to set our stall out early, start how we did against Portsmouth in those first five to 10 minutes, get on the front foot, cause some problems and get the place behind us.
“What an amazing atmosphere it will be. We’re all very excited by what tomorrow could bring.”
Comments Welcome!