Lincoln City head coach Michael Skubala gave his thoughts on the Imps performance in the goalless draw with Derby County at the LNER Stadium on Saturday.
Skubala is excited about the striker partnership of Freddie Draper and Joe Taylor, who looked a threat against Derby.
He said: “I don’t think I’ve seen [Eiran] Cashin get dominated that much and I think Freddie aerially dominated him and I think Joe pace wise dominated him. Today we have seen how well it can work. What really pleased me was how hard they worked without the ball as well. You can’t underestimate what that does for the team.”
He added: “I think it’s exciting isn’t it. You have Freddie who is strong and can win aerial duels, and then we have Joe who you wouldn’t want to run against. It’s exciting and we have to keep pushing and keep going so we can score goals and win games as well.”
He was impressed with the Imps display, as they earned a hard-fought point against Paul Warne’s promotion-chasing Derby.
Skubala said: “I am really pleased. To a man I thought they worked really hard, we talked about replicating Wycombe’s performance, having intensity, playing with no fear, being brave to play and at times I thought we looked really sharp. I thought we created some big chances from our match plan.”
The result sees Lincoln move up to 11th in League One. Derby stay in third place, having lost only one of their last fourteen games.
Skubala was delighted to keep a clean sheet against a side who have only failed to score on the road twice all season.
He said: “I’m really pleased. It just tells you that we are connected, and when we defend well, we are a tough team to beat. I think that’s what we have gone back to in terms of being really connected but what I really like about us now is that we have a threat which is exciting.”
The Imps head coach added: “I think if they give that level of energy, performance, then who knows what we can do because Derby are on a big run and they’re dominating teams and i thought today we matched them and created bigger chances.”
The former Leeds United under-21s boss gave praise to his captain Adam Jackson, after an excellent defensive performance.
He said: “I think Jacko and the back line today were solid. Jacko’s maturity and experience showed today in his positioning. He was winning headers, and getting first and second contacts and really calmed the game down when we needed it to be calm.”
“I think that’s something we have worked on in training, when we go in fast in transition, and when we need to be calm. You saw a really mature performance from him today,” he added.
Skubala concluded his post-match thoughts by praising the Lincoln fans and groundstaff, who braved a cold afternoon.
He said: “I think the groundsmen were brilliant today, in terms of getting the game on. The crowd was amazing again. We didn’t quite get the goal we wanted, which would have made it even more amazing. I think they were brilliant. To a club, to a city we can be proud, but we still need to push to get three points.”
Next up for the Imps is the visit of Peterborough United on Saturday at the LNER Stadium.