Club captain Paudie O’Connor has said Lincoln City will need to have a fearless mentality if they are to compete in SkyBet League One next season.
The Irishman was part of an imperious Imps defence the finished with the second best record in the division, conceding just 40 goals. He started 36 times in a season where he also scored twice and received two red cards.
Speaking at Lincoln City’s recent 140th anniversary, O’Connor said: “It was a good first year all round when you look back on it. Obviously, it was nice to captain the boys and lead them out there, and after January that ability to string back-to-back results together across a long period of time was something that the whole group can take a lot from heading into next season.”
With a number of big teams such as Birmingham City coming down from the SkyBet Championship as well as newcomers from SkyBet League Two including Wrexham and Lincoln’s local rivals Mansfield Town, League One is set to be as strong as ever next season.
O’Connor said: “We know it’s going to be a strong league, there’s big boys coming down, and there’s a couple of big clubs going up. So, it’s going to be a strong league, and we are going to need that mentality again where we go out and don’t fear anyone.”
Despite a strong backline in 2023/24, there will be a different look to Michael Skubala’s defence for the new campaign. Loanee defender Alex Mitchell returned to his parent club Millwall, and has since joined Charlton Athletic, while Lasse Sorenson has departure for Huddersfield Town.
O’Connor sounded confident in the defensive unit that has been retained by Lincoln, with Adam Jackson, Sean Roughan retained, and Lewis Montsma recently penning a new six-month deal.
He said: “Mitchy played a fair amount of games last year, and obviously so did Lasse, so losing them two will probably have to be replaced. But, there’s still myself, Jacko, Seany still there. And we have a couple young boys who will be chomping at the bit to get involved this year.”
Lincoln City return to league action on Saturday, August 10, with a trip to Burton Albion.
Feature Image Credit: Graham Burrell