Lincoln City battled back from a goal down against Nuneaton to record their first win after coming from behind in over a year.
The Imps manager, David Holdsworth said after the game: “I’m delighted for the players and certainly for the supporters. It was a hard-fought victory.”
Speaking about his side’s first half display, Holdsworth said: “We didn’t show any characteristics of what we wanted to in the first half. Whether they were nervous I don’t know, but goals change games and it was a good strike from their player and it set us back.”
“I didn’t really enjoy the first half I must say. We had a few half chances and there were a few choice words said at half time.”
A strike from Nuneaton’s James Armson after three minutes pegged the Imps back, but, after some stern words at half time, Lincoln City reappeared rejuvenated.
Holdsworth explained: “You’ve got to play with a bit of pride and a bit of passion, and I didn’t see that in the first half. I was very critical of a few of them and they responded in the right way, but we were constructive with it.”
“I wasn’t throwing tea around well, because we don’t have a tea lady. We had to go out and earn the right to get back in the game and I feel we did that.”
Lincoln City really gained an ascendency when Holdsworth brought on experienced trio, Nicky Nicolau, Colin Larkin and Jamie Taylor.
He said: “All the substitutes made an impact when they came on which is good and is what you want with your changes. I’ve got a half decent little squad and, when they’re fit and playing to their full potential, we’ll be alright.
“In the second half we showed a little more willingness to get in people’s faces. Sometimes you have to grind out a result.”
Holdsworth refused to be drawn into comments about the referee’s performance but he did say: “I’m not going to say anything about that referee. We’ve seen him twice now and let’s just say he’s not on my Christmas list.”
Speaking about injuries in the side, the Imps manager said: “I haven’t been able to field my strongest side in terms of mentality and maturity and that has been a big blow to us over the last six to eight weeks. I must give credit to all the players. They’ve all dug in and they’ve all had a go.”
Looking ahead to Friday’s fixture against Forest Green, Holdsworth said that having the fixture on the Friday is “ridiculous.”
He explained: “I think it’s stupid that we have this. It’ll be hard for our fans to go down there as well and I find that the fixtures are piling up on us and we’ve got no time to recover.”