I thought it was a very big point at Athletic
SKUBALA PRAISE AS THE IMPS SHUT UP SHOP AT THE DW
MICHAEL Skubala praised his Lincoln City side’s discipline as they battled to a goalless draw away against Wigan Athletic. The Latics had won their last three matches at the DW Stadium but struggled to find a way past a determined City as Skubala’s men, who only allowed three shots from the home side, none of which were on target.
Lincoln only had one shot on target themselves, in a game that was clearly affected by the adverse playing conditions, but the Imps did what they had to do as the travelling team to come away with something from a difficult assignment.
Skubala said: “We came to be disciplined in our structure because Wigan are a really good team with the ball.
“They have caused problems for teams at home on the big pitch, but I thought to a man we were on it.
“They were trying to drag us all over the place but we had worked on that in training.
“We pressed them from minute one and thought we did it really well. It is a big point for me. I said to the lads not to be disappointed because Wigan have won quite a few on the bounce at home.
“We knew we were coming to play against a side that are very good at home and, to a man, we were really on it.”
Skubala noted the squad depth that Wigan had with the options they were able to bring off the bench to try and swing the momentum in their favour, so he gave credit to his own substitutes, for how they were able to help maintain a strong defensive effort in particular.
He added: “If you look at the conditions, it’s always difficult to play in the wind and the rain.
“They had a couple of moments, we had a couple of half-chances, we probably edged the first half and they probably edged the second half.
“They have good players, you have to respect that, and they have good players on the bench to bring on. But so do we, and I was really pleased with the boys we brought on and the impact we had on the game.
“Paudie O’Connor was superb and his leadership skills are immense, he’s so big for the group. Adam Jackson, TJ Eyoma and the rest of the backline stood up to everything too. We see it as a big point and that’s what I’ve told the lads, don’t be disappointed.”
WIGAN Athletic boss Shaun Maloney praised Lincoln City’s defensive organisation under new head coach Michael Skubala after their sides played out a scoreless draw at the weekend.
It seemed to be quite a tactical battle between the two coaches on Saturday with neither team giving much away to the other in terms of chances.
Conditions certainly played a part in how the game unfolded too, but Lincoln were tuned in defensively to earn a good point on the road.
The Latics had won four of their last five league games at the DW Stadium coming into this fixture, scoring 11 in that period, so for the Imps to not even allow them a single shot on target illustrated how strong a defensive performance they put in.
While acknowledging that Lincoln did not create much of a threat themselves going forward, Maloney did recognise the organisation that Skubala has drilled into his team in his short time in the job, which was certainly on show at the weekend.
He said: “I thought Lincoln were very good defensively, as they have been in the last few games under their new manager. We found it very hard to break them down and probably didn’t do quite enough to win.
“We were just slightly off it and, against a team that is very well organised, we didn’t create enough with the amount of possession we had. They’re a good side, but I never felt under a big threat, in terms of when they had the ball, maybe when they had set plays, which they’re very good at, one of the best in the league.
Skipper Paudi O’Connor came back into the starting line-up from injury for the first time under Skubala for the Wigan game and explained how the mindset has changed in the team with how they defend in units, which has proven successful so far.
With the ball, Skubala wants his team to be braver, and forward Danny Mandroiu spoke on that briefly, explaining that the overall buy-in from the squad has been good and that they are receptive to his new ideas.
Mandroiu added: “The head coach has come in with his ideas and I think you can see evidence of that in the previous games. We are playing a lot more football, we are buying into it and it is going well.
“Bravery on the ball is key to a successful team. We have players who can take the ball with confidence and I think you can see a lot of that quality within the team.”