Tom Bayliss deserves some credit for his first half performance as well because I thought he had a good game on his return to the side. There has been plenty of debate around him since promotion, but this was another reminder that he is capable of operating at this level. He used the ball intelligently, showed some nice touches under pressure and helped City move possession through midfield, even if one ambitious effort ended up disappearing into the night sky.
The competition in that area of the pitch will only become stronger, and that is no bad thing. Bayliss does not need to play every minute to prove his value, and Varfolomeev replacing him was not an indictment of his performance. It was simply another example of Lincoln now having enough options to refresh the midfield without dramatically weakening the team.
My Man of the Match was Conor McGrandles, who I thought was outstanding. He looked completely at home in the Championship, particularly when receiving the ball in tight areas and escaping pressure. There were several moments when he turned away from opponents or slipped the ball through a challenge with real confidence, and his composure helped us maintain control of the game. Making his 201st appearance, there is no doubt we are watching a Lincoln City legend in action, and long may it continue.
It has been one of the most encouraging themes of the season so far, because players who were excellent in League One are continuing to show that they can make the step up. McGrandles was one example, but the same can be said for the defensive unit. Ryley Towler has now played 180 Championship minutes in two games without putting a foot wrong, and City have kept clean sheets in both. He made 11 interceptions last night, and while he wasn’t tested as much aerially, he’s really stepped up.
Deji Elerewe was arguably even better. He was strong, aggressive, comfortable carrying the ball and technically good enough to escape pressure when Blackburn tried to engage him. There should not be any lingering doubt about whether he can play at this level, because he looked every inch a Championship defender. I fear for us, because if he plays like this for the next 20 games, someone is going to drop a lot of money on him in January.
That defensive solidity is one of the main reasons Blackburn created so little. It would be easy to dismiss the visitors as poor, (they were, and they have reasons), but City still had to make them look poor. Elerewe, Towler and Elder defended properly, McGrandles screened intelligently, and the wing-backs worked relentlessly, meaning Blackburn rarely found spaces in dangerous areas. I know we’ll get labelled as ugly; I know we’ll be the pariah of the Championship for many supporters, but that’s only because they know teams doing what we do, as we do it, make life difficult, especially for those trying to play a bit of football but without the right players to do it.
The most exciting part of the evening probably came from the bench, because this was the first real glimpse of what the next version of Lincoln City might look like. Andrei Coubis came on and immediately looked imposing, both physically and in possession. He carried the ball down the right with real power and pace, and his involvement in one of City’s best late moves showed that he brings far more than simply defensive strength.
He added a huge amount of pace and power, and I do not buy the suggestion that collectively we somehow lacked pace. Once Blackburn went down to ten men, they effectively parked themselves around their own penalty area, so there was very little space to run into. Pace is most devastating when there is room behind a defence, and there was almost none by that stage.
That move involved Coubis, Mikkel Ladefoged and Tanto Olaofe before the latter nearly applied the finishing touch, and it was probably the clearest example of the additional quality waiting to come into this side. Ladefoged also looked bright after his introduction, while Olaofe provided a different threat against a Blackburn defence that had become increasingly deep and compact.
Coubis still managed to drive beyond opponents, which showed that the athleticism is there, and there is considerably more coming. Chiedozie Ogbene has not yet been integrated into the starting side; Daniel Oyegoke adds another dynamic option, Yunus Konak was on the bench, while Mason Melia and Ethan Wheatley offer further possibilities in attack. This is still a team in transition, even if the performances already look competitive.
There was also some nonsense circulating before the game about Rob Street and Mason Melia, which needs addressing. I heard claims that Melia had a problem and was supposedly heading back to Tottenham, along with another suggestion that Street had handed in a transfer request. Neither appeared to have any substance, and Street starting the match in House’s absence should probably have been enough to underline that. I find it baffling that fans of a football club are always so eager to knock that club when things happen, but the desire to try to cause anger or frustration among other fans will always mystify me.
From what I understand, Street remains fully committed to Lincoln City, and his performance certainly reflected that. He competed for everything, worked relentlessly and gave Blackburn’s defenders a difficult night, even if the chances did not quite fall for him. There is enough genuinely interesting business happening around this squad without people inventing problems that are not there.
The broader picture is far more important anyway. Lincoln are taking points from established Championship sides while still missing players and while several of the summer signings are waiting to become regular starters. You could argue that the starting XI, minus House, Hamer and Bradley (and you-know-who at Cardiff), is weaker than the starting XI now, and yet here we are, four points from four games, outside the bottom three or four teams. The team that began this game was still heavily influenced by last season, yet it controlled large parts of a Championship fixture and restricted the opposition to almost nothing.
That is why I find the result both frustrating and encouraging in equal measure. Before kick-off, a point against Blackburn would not have felt disastrous, particularly after the effort required to win at Bolton. By full-time, however, it felt like two points had been left behind because the game was there for the taking.
The difference came down to the final action. City did enough to create pressure, enough to win territory and enough to make Blackburn defend for long periods, but we did not produce the final pass or finish required to turn dominance into victory. That is where the extra quality brought in over the summer should eventually make a difference.
When Ogbene is fully involved, when Coubis and Oyegoke are starting more regularly, when Ladefoged settles into Championship football and when Konak, Melia and Wheatley have had more time within the system, Lincoln should have more ways to hurt teams. The important thing is that those players are being added to a structure that already works rather than being asked to rescue one that does not.
That is the biggest positive from tonight. We are still recognisably the Lincoln City that won League One, still aggressive, still physical and still determined to make matches uncomfortable, but those qualities are surviving the jump in level. Bolton could not score against us, Blackburn could not score against us, and neither game suggested Lincoln looked out of place in the Championship.
There will be (much) tougher nights than this, and there will be sides who punish us for failing to take chances. Blackburn were unusually blunt, and City cannot expect every opponent to offer so little in the final third, which is why one shot on target from 18 attempts has to be viewed as a genuine weakness rather than an irrelevant statistic.
Even so, the question at the beginning of the season was whether this team could compete. After this performance, I am increasingly convinced it can. The more interesting question now is how good it might become once the new Lincoln City begins to properly emerge.
This match analysis is brought to you by Wingers Lincoln.
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