By A Prayer At The Vicarage: Watford 1-0 Lincoln City

Lincoln City slumped to a disappointing defeat at Vicarage Road in a game that lacked quality and cohesion from either side.

The Imps made five changes to the team that lost at home against Birmingham, with Cheo Ogbene, Tom Bayliss, Daniel Oyegoke, Freddie Draper and Callum Elder coming into the side. Mikkel Ladefoged missed out completely, while Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw were both in the stands, banned for accumulating too many yellow cards.

The Imps made a positive start, with Draper doing well down the right after four minutes, cutting inside and putting a ball across the area. House went down under a challenge, but there was never really a penalty shout. Two minutes later, House was involved again, this time teeing up Konak, whose effort was blocked by Hector Kyprianou and went out for a throw.

Watford’s first real opportunity came after 12 minutes, with Kyprianou seeing an effort blocked before Othmane Maamma recycled possession. Stephy Mavididi then tried his luck, but his shot was also blocked and went behind for a corner.

Mavididi was involved again four minutes later, making a dangerous run down the left before cutting inside and shooting, only for Sonny Bradley to block behind. The resulting corner caused problems, with Andrei Coubiș heading behind for another, before Iker Bravo was penalised for a foul from the second delivery, much to his frustration.

There was little to separate the sides as the half progressed, although the home crowd were beginning to grow restless. City won a needless corner after Oyegoke’s cross, and Federico Ravaglia spilled the delivery before Watford eventually cleared.

The Imps were enjoying a decent spell of pressure, winning another corner on the half-hour mark after Coubiș had lofted a ball into the area that was headed away with Draper lurking. The resulting delivery dropped towards Bayliss, who looked set to shoot, but the ball was blocked almost as it reached his foot, earning City another corner.

Ogbene was next to try his luck, firing wide from the edge of the area after House had done well to hold up a loose ball. Watford then had a decent opportunity of their own, with Konak surrendering possession in a dangerous area after 37 minutes. Edo Kayembe won the tussle but dragged his effort wide when he should have done better.

The hosts threatened again shortly before the break, with Marc Bola seeing a shot blocked following a Mavididi corner. Watford appealed for handball, but the referee awarded another corner.