No excuses for City after Papa John’s sad exit
Hopes of a Wembley final in the Papa John’s Trophy were dashed by Lincoln City on Tuesday night, as the Imps recorded a penalty shootout victory at Hull City. With the scores level at 1-1 after a pulsating 90 minutes at the KCOM Stadium, Jordan Flores saw his decisive kick saved by Alex Palmer to send the visitors through to the semi-finals.
Here, City writer Barry Cooper looks at the big talking points...
Focus on the league
Ahh yes, the old classic when you get dumped out of a cup competition.
Make no mistake about it, Grant Mccann took this competition seriously from the start and that was proven by the team selections throughout.
Not only has the competition given younger players like Billy Chadwick the chance to play senior football, it’s also helped develop their winning mentality.
Given what happened last season, it was important to register any win no matter what the competition, and this gave the Tigers a platform to aid their confidence growth.
Now there are no excuses.
The transfer window is closed and there are no cup games to distract the players from the main focus of winning promotion.
Burton is the next stop on the promotion trail, and while the Brewers are bottom of the league, City have already found out to their cost this season that if they’re not on their game they’ll come unstuck.
The Doc
It’s taken a while for Greg Docherty to settle into life at Hull City, however in recent weeks, the former Rangers man has really come into his own.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but since scoring his first goal at Oxford United prior to Christmas, Docherty has really moved up through the gears and his performances are really taking off.
He’s playing with a swagger, a confidence and is fast becoming an integral part of the City engine room, not least for the amount of ground he covers and his work ethic which is second to none.
Having players like Docherty and George Honeyman inspire others to work just as hard, and that’s huge compliment to him.
His goal on Tuesday night was delicious, driving into the box and having the composure to find the bottom corner.
Long may it continue.
Playing in a ploughed field
It’s hardly been a secret that the KCOM Stadium playing surface has been waving the white flag for a number of weeks now.
The lack of breathing space between the end of last season and the beginning of this has undoubtedly had a big impact, as has the weather in Hull over the winter months.
Questions clearly need to be asked about the management of the pitch and the funding behind it.
However, it’s only fair to highlight the number of other clubs throughout the country that have similar problems with their playing surface.
There’s a club not too far away - one we shall not name - having numerous problems of their own.
While it’s far from ideal, clearly, Mccann’s men actually dealt with the conditions very well on Tuesday night, and still managed to play a good brand of football and deliver a good performance.
Whetting the appetite
We’ve waited a while for the two best teams in League One to get it on, and this one didn’t disappoint. Both teams were positive and despite the conditions, it became a very watchable affair, and judging by the state of the league table, it was hardly a surprise the two could not be separated after 90 minutes.
Aside of the seventh minute when the Tigers defence nodded off, this was a very good performance and one which augers well for the league meeting on Tuesday night.
City’s team will look a little different, but the performance won’t deviate too much and while there could be a small element of advantage to the Imps for winning this one, I’m not sure it’ll count for too much in a week’s time.
Freshness...
George Honeyman, Mallik Wilks and Jacob Greaves have all played an awful lot of football in a very short space of time, so for Mccann to have been in a position to rest some of his first team players will have been an important decision.
Wilks has looked absolutely shattered in the last couple of weeks, and another 70 or 80 minutes into his legs on a sapping pitch could have done more harm than good.
Letting those players have a rare night off is important, not just for their physical health but their mental health, too, and hopefully, City will feel the rewards in the weeks to come.