Chris Cohen believes Lincoln City’s point at Millwall deserves recognition after a difficult week in which the scorelines have not always reflected the performances or circumstances.
City arrived at The Den after a 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United and Wednesday’s 6-0 loss to West Ham, with the latter bringing two early dismissals and a punishing evening for those left on the field. Six changes followed for the trip to London, where the Imps established a two-goal lead before being pegged back and losing Deji Elerewe to a late red card. Holding on for a point ended the run of defeats, although the opportunities to put Millwall out of reach left understandable frustration.
Reflecting on all three matches, Cohen was asked whether the draw represented a good finish to the week.
“Yeah, most definitely. In terms of the scorelines, if you just look at it in the papers, it doesn’t look great when you lose 3-0 and 6-0. But there’s a lot of context around those games.
“Sheffield United was a much tighter game than that, as anyone who was at the game or watched the game will know. Then obviously the West Ham game is a complete anomaly because we had two men sent off so early.
“Although from the outside looking in it looks like it was a tough week, we understand the situation. But we want to give these supporters performances they can be proud of and take points. To come away to Millwall and take a point, even though we’re disappointed it wasn’t three, is still a very, very good result for Lincoln City.”
A third goal had been within reach early in the second half, when Freddie Draper and Dom Jefferies hit the post in the same move. Cohen also reflected on the style of City’s performance and what the point represented.
“Definitely significant, and probably the nature of the result as well. Possession stats were low, and we need to look at that. We’re always trying to nudge that up.
“We know what football team we are, and we’ve been that for a couple of years now, but we want to keep a threat on goal. It reminded me a lot of the games we had last year. We scored early and scored from a second-phase set-piece for the second goal.
“Last year, we were able to take those games away from people in the second half. We weren’t able to do that today, although we almost did after half-time.
“In terms of performance, I’m incredibly proud of the players, as always. As I said, to come away to Millwall, perform well and take a point is a good result. You just can’t help but feel a little bit disappointed with the way it played out.”
City now have a full week to prepare for Burnley’s visit to Sincil Bank, offering some welcome recovery time after the demands of the past three matches. The next task is to turn the encouraging elements of those performances into a first home league victory of the season.
Comments Welcome!