Lincoln City head coach Michael Skubala is under no illusions over how hard the 2024/25 season is going to be, as he hopes to reach the play-offs.
Fixture release day coincided with the club’s 140th anniversary, as they opened their new Co-op Community Hub.
Skubala said: “The first target is to try and replicate what we do, that has to be our first target. The run we went on isn’t easy, not many clubs did that up and down the country.
“We can’t lie, we want to look up, not down. We want to look at that play-off spot and try to go one more. But, we are under no illusion how hard it is going to be.”
The Imps start their season with a trip to Burton Albion, before a duo of home games against Barnsley and newly promoted Mansfield Town.
City’s head coach said: “It looks a hard league, and there’s no doubt that there’s some big clubs coming up, and some big clubs coming down, and Reading and Wigan haven’t got their point deductions. But, I think we showed that on our day we are a match for any of those teams, and when you go 11 v 11 on the green stuff, between two goals, why not.”
Learning Lessons from Last Year:
Lincoln City missed out agonisingly on the play-offs last season, losing to Portsmouth on the final day.
“If we take it in the right way and we learn from it, and we improve. We are going to have to improve. But, I think what it shows you is that if we do things right, and you are competitive, and you can score, and you can be aggressive, and how we want to be, then we can go and beat teams,” Skubala said.
Player’s View:
A trio of Lincoln players also previewed the upcoming season during a busy media day.
Returnee Conor McGrandles, who signed for the Imps for a third time this summer, said: “We are very confident. We had a good end to last season, so hopefully we can continue that momentum into this season. I’m looking forward to getting back in, and getting pre-season done.”
Young striker Jovon Makama added: “We go into every season the same way we go into any other season. We are looking to get the best results as possible and go that one step further.”
Club captain Paudie O’Connor said he was optimistic ahead of the next campaign, and the pre-season training camp that starts on Friday, June 28.
He said: “You can only go off the end to last season, the atmosphere around the football club going into that Portsmouth game was one of the best I’ve experienced. If we can get back to those levels early in the season, and get that feel good factor back straight away, that can only be a good place to play football.”
Lincoln City’s season starts away to Burton Albion on Saturday, August 10.
Feature Image Credit: Chris Vaughan/Lincoln City FC