Lincoln City’s interim head coach Tom Shaw reviewed the win over Notts County and looked ahead to Saturday’s league game against Port Vale.
His side came away with a 2-0 win against Notts County, securing their place in the knockout stages of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. He said: “It became comfortable in the end.” Adding: “I think we solved it at half-time, we were a little bit passive, maybe defending a little bit too deep in the first-half.”
The interim boss was very happy with the performance of his team. Speaking to LincSport Editor Jamie Johnson, Shaw said: “The lads started to win the ball in their [Notts County’s] half, 35-40 yards from their goal. So, that was really pleasing in how their took on the info and delivered in brilliantly. That was a really pleasing thing.”
He added: “When it’s not a full house and not as loud as normal you have to try and generate a bit of atmosphere, a bit of intensity, and the players did that with their actions.”
Goals for two Jacks:
Jack Burroughs opened the scoring after just six minutes, notching his first goal for the club.
On Burroughs, Shaw said: “I’m really pleased for Jack. He’s been great since he come in, he’s a brilliant lad and he trains very well every day. He’s open-minded to everything you throw at him and he’s had a great education at Coventry [City].”
Jack Vale scored the other goal of the game. Like Burroughs, it was the striker’s first goal for the Imps. Shaw was full of praise for him:
“His shift was tough in the first-half because perhaps we were defending a little bit too deep. He had to manage both centre-halves and O’Brien as the holding midfielder. It’s a big shift for Jake. He’s returning to play, so he felt it a bit in his legs, but he knew he was coming off so he had that last burst of energy and it was a really nice finish.”
Injury News:
Lincoln City have been plagued by injury throughout the season, especially in the attacking areas as Tyler Walker, Ben House and Reeco Hackett are all unavailable.
Shaw said: “We have got 70% of our forward line unavailable and I think that gets forgotten a little bit. So, what would Manchester City look like without that? What would Liverpool look like without that? It effects any group of players and our lads have had some big results in the league.”
He was hopeful that Danny Mandroiu, Ted Bishop and Alex Mitchell would all feature on Saturday, after being absent from the squad on Tuesday night. “We’re hoping all three will be available on Saturday. It was precautionary for two and one with an illness.” he said.
The interim head coach confirmed to LincSport that there were no new injury concerns coming out of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy win.
Looking ahead:
Saturday sees Port Vale travel to the LNER Stadium, in what is likely to be Tom Shaw’s last game in interim charge.
On the game against Port Vale, he said: “We need to do our work on Port Vale, look at their style, shape and personal and if we can go a little bit higher with our press and line of engagement, and we will do a bit of work on that in the next few days.”
With their win over Notts County, Lincoln City secured their place in the knockout stages of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. Shaw said: “It’s a great competition. Now you’re in the knockouts it can be really exciting. This club has had a brilliant experience in it before, so we’ll see who we get in the draw and start looking ahead to that fixture.”