Lincoln City faced off against Bolton Wanderers on Valentine’s Day in a clash at the top of the table, but with the visitors closing in on second place, love certainly wasn’t in the air.
The game was intense from the first whistle, with the Imps scoring first through red-hot Jack Moylan.
Bolton didn’t back down despite the cauldron-like atmosphere, and it felt the hosts needed a second goal for security.
The skipper told us after the game: “As good a team as Bolton are, if you don’t kill the game off then there’s always an opportunity for them to come back into the game.”
The Imps were seen by many to have been the better side, with their 22 shots compared to Bolton’s eight still not being enough to pick up all three points, much of which was down to Jack Bonham as the Bolton keeper had an unbelievable game.
Despite the visitors coming away with a point and scoring so late on, the mentality in the dressing room was clearly positive.
Darikwa said: “Obviously to concede so late it’s disappointing but we’ll dust ourselves down and go onto Tuesday night and hopefully get the win.”
With the return of Ben House, alongside the additions to the squad of Alfie Lloyd and Ryan Oné, the newfound depth in the squad will be a blessing for Michael Skubala.
With the gap to Cardiff City at the top of the league now at four points, Darikwa told us about the crucial nature of the squad depth that Lincoln now possess.
The Lincoln captain said: “It’s never about the 11 or the team that start, it’s about the people on the bench and people playing their part.
“Every time we play, we go on the pitch to try and win, we’re obviously unbeaten in 14 now and Tuesday night is going to be a tough game.”
Lincoln will host Northampton Town tomorrow night at the LNER Stadium in another vital league match.
Skubala’s red army will look to extend their lead over Bolton in the table and try to cement themselves as the team that will finish in the second automatic promotion spot in League One.