Lincoln City head coach Tom Shaw has explained how a lack of numbers contributed to the postponement of a friendly against Premier League Hull City.
As we reported earlier this week, a game was arranged at their Cottingham training ground, only for us to call it off before we braved the narrow road into their training base. There was little clarity about the situation at the time, but speaking to the media this afternoon, Tom Shaw confirmed that City didn’t want to take a wholly weakened squad up the A15, risking senior players.
There were reports this week that you were due to have a friendly against Hull, then decided not to. Was that the case, and why?
“Yes, we apologised to Hull for that,” he told Rob Makepeace.
“With the suspensions and the red cards, it got to a point where the team we would have taken across wasn’t what it was supposed to be.
“We’re obviously picking a team for this Saturday, so we didn’t want to bring any fatigue to certain players as well. We apologised to Hull for pulling out of that friendly, but it just wouldn’t have been what the friendly was supposed to be.”
The Imps have just three midweek fixtures between now and Christmas, and with no EFL Trophy, the fixture list does look like it lacks some opportunities for fringe players. Tom explained how the club will seek to strike that balance with the needs of the squad.
“We replaced that with a very intense training session on Tuesday, which was right for the individuals. Everything’s individualised by our sports science department. They’re incredible with their work, and they go to so many lengths to make sure it’s right for each player and the group.
“It was unfortunate to miss out on the chance to play that friendly, but we think the session that replaced it puts all those lads in a really good place for the weekend.”
The weekend brings one of the sides Hull replaced in the Premier League to Sincil Bank, Burnley. It’s the second home game in a row where a side playing top-flight football last season will visit, and when you tack on Swansea and Southampton, top of the league and play-off finalists (until Spygate), it makes for a final fixture of a tough quartet.
Until Birmingham, the only side to beat our League One points tally, visit next week, our final home game before yet another international break.
Comments Welcome!