Lincoln City head coach Tom Shaw admitted his side were not at their best in possession during the 1-0 defeat against Watford, but praised the players for their effort and commitment against a talented Championship opponent.
The Imps suffered a narrow defeat at Vicarage Road, with Stephy Mavididi scoring the only goal of the game. City had opportunities to threaten the Watford goal but struggled to make the most of their attacking positions, despite producing a disciplined performance without the ball.
It was a frustrating evening for the Imps, who had hoped to bounce back from Saturday’s defeat against Birmingham City. Tom felt his side had successfully restricted Watford for long periods, with the game largely unfolding as planned until the decisive goal.
However, he acknowledged that the quality of City’s play in possession needs to improve.
“We knew it would be in loads of ways, so we just keep cracking on and concentrate on ourselves,” he told the written press.
“Our level of performance can be better with the ball tonight, no doubt. We’ve got to keep improving that and nudging that every single game and every training session.
“We cannot fault the players’ effort and commitment to the cause tonight. I thought they gave it everything. Watford have got so much talent in their group and we just spoiled every attack over and over again and made the pitch really small.
“We wanted a low-scoring game, so the game played out how we wanted it, really on our terms for a big part of it. But the result has got away from us, not on our terms.”
City did enjoy more possession in dangerous areas after the break, although they struggled to find the final ball or produce the finishing required to trouble the Watford defence.
Tom contrasted the performance with the emphatic 4-1 victory over Burnley two games earlier, recognising that the attacking quality shown on that occasion will not always be replicated.
“We probably got there a little bit cleaner in the second half. We got around their penalty area plenty, just weren’t at our best around the goal. The deliveries were a little bit short today.
“Some of our finishing was not at its best, but there’s going to be days like that. There’s days like Burnley two games ago where it all clicks and it’s electric, and days like today where it’s a little bit scruffy.
“But we know that will be the case. We’ve got incredible physicality in our group. Technically, they’ll have brilliant days. They’ll have days where it’s not in its finest place.
“So we’re fine with that. We know that’s the situation and we just keep working on it every single day to try and improve every single player.”
The defeat leaves City looking to recover from successive Championship losses, having followed the Birmingham setback with another frustrating result on the road.
There were positives in the way the Imps restricted Watford’s attacking opportunities, but a lack of quality in the final third ultimately proved costly.
Saturday’s fixture against Queens Park Rangers now offers an opportunity to turn those encouraging aspects of the performance into a much-needed positive result before the international break.
Comments Welcome!