Lincoln City head coach Michael Skubala spoke to the media after the 2-1 comeback victory over Fleetwood Town on Saturday, securing his first home win in charge.
Skubala was pleased to get his first win in front of the home fans at the LNER Stadium.
He said: “When you play at home against Fleetwood, everyone is expecting us to get a result, but we knew that it was going to be a tough game, we knew how well they set up without the ball. I was really impressed with the second half with how we dominated the game and how we stayed calm and in the end the quality showed.”
It wasn’t the ideal start to proceedings as a mistake from City goalkeeper Lukas Jensen allowed for Promise Omochere to open the scoring after half an hour.
Skubala said: “Lukas made two massive saves in the second half. Lukas has been brilliant for us this season. He made a mistake. He knows that, and the first thing he did was say sorry to the lads. He has been brilliant for us this season, so we can let him make a mistake every now and again.”
The red card turning point:
A major flashpoint in the contest was the dismissal of Fleetwood captain Bosun Lawal just before half-time, in his supposed part in a mass confrontation started by Jayden Stockley and Ben House.
On the dismissal, Skubala said: “I know there was a little bit of ‘hugging’ but I didn’t really see anything else. It happened outside of where I was watching and afterwards I don’t really know what happened.”
“They [Fleetwood bench] were confused as to who they were booking. It’s a bit of a distance from the bench to the fourth [official],” he added.
For the second game running, a side in a Lincoln game has gone down to ten men, after Alex Mitchell saw red last week. The city head coach understood the challenge that still faced his side throughout.
He said: “It’s not easy to play against ten men, as we know when we played away at Burton. I thought in the second half, the way we managed the game was brilliant. I thought at times we created good chances, but also defended well.”
Short-term injury crisis:
Not everyone made it through the full game unscathed as defender Adam Jackson had to be withdrawn with 15 minutes to play. Other injuries included Freddie Draper and Ethan Hamilton, who were emitted from the matchday squad.
With regards to the Jackson injury, Skubala said: “We think it could be a broken nose. We shall see how that is ready for Tuesday, which might be a tough turnaround for him.”
“After Burton Ethan felt something in his knee, so we have taken him to a specialist to try and wash that out. It could be a few days, so we are not sure about whether he makes Tuesday. It’s the same with Freddie, who rolled his ankle a little bit,” he added.
Jack Burroughs remains out for up to four weeks.
McGrandles returns turn to the LNER:
The Fleetwood fixture saw a home debut for the returning signing of Conor McGrandles and the boss was pleased with his performance.
He said: “At the end of the game you saw all of his experience and quality. You saw his cleverness. Sometimes you don’t need to see the big stuff, but he did all the little things really well and I was really impressed with him.”
“Amazing” Lincoln City faithful:
Over 8,000 fans watched on as Lasse Sorensen completed the scoring for the Imps with just over half an hour to play. Skubala thanked the fans for their efforts during the game.
He said: “When we were 1-0 down, I thought the fans were amazing. You can hear them pushing the team and I want to say a credit to the fans today. What a day to get a win, and the fans played a massive part in that.”
Next up for the Imps is a midweek trip to Charlton Athletic, before welcoming Exeter City to the LNER Stadium next Saturday.