The in-form and on-loan winger from Sunderland, Jack Diamond, has settled into life at Lincoln City well, picking up two man of the match awards and a Sky Bet League One team of the week award.
Diamond has proven to be a gem of a coup for the Imps, being the perfect replacement for Anthony Scully and being the focal point of City’s attacks with his blistering pace and composed skill in tight areas.
Being in the spotlight isn’t unusual for Diamond as last season he won the players’ player with a season tally of 13 goals and nine assists for Harrogate Town. An astounding achievement for a team who finished in the lower half of the Sky Bet League Two table.
Speaking on Jack Diamond’s impact so far, Lincoln Head Coach, Mark Kennedy, was full of praise for his young winger. He said: “Jack deserves all the credit in the world for his start and I definitely won’t stand here and say it is down to me.
“We have to give them the maximum, what we try and do is help them along on this journey, kind of implement their own style and their philosophy. And what we’re trying to do is talk about sort of little movements and where we feel we can get him in a position to maximise himself.
“But we work hard. We have three footballing coaches here every day and when one is working the other two are part of the session. So I’d like to think with every player, we spend time with. We’re all coach developers and that’s something we’re very proud of, we don’t stand on the side, I don’t want to say old school, but a huge amount of the stuff we do is specific. I am very happy it’s all down to Jack.”
Jack Diamond was influential in the Imps’ performance on Tuesday night against favourites for the tie, Derby County. Diamond dazzled past the Derby defence before he was brought down and then scored the subsequent penalty. Diamond was once again involved with his shot being blocked by a defender before falling to Ben House giving the Imps a 2-0 victory under the lights.
Kennedy will be hoping Diamond can continue this fine form when they face Bristol Rovers away on Saturday, with familiar face Harry Anderson starring for the home side.