Imps look to extend unbeaten run
With a last-gasp draw against Steve Bruce’s Blackpool on Tuesday night Lincoln City extended its unbeaten league run to 14 matches.
If the Imps, who are currently fourth in League One, are to continue their record-breaking run against Leyton Orient this Saturday (October 5) they will need the same grit they showed on Tuesday night.
Imps head coach Michael Skubala (pictured below) said he was proud of his side after they fought back to claim a point against the Seasiders – ending Bruce’s winning start at Bloomfield Road.
Tom Hamer's late header secured a 1-1 draw for City, who had been down to 10 men for the final 20 minutes after Adam Jackson collected a second booking.
Skubala said: "Blackpool had the better of the first half and worked us hard, but we came out well in the second half
"I'm really proud of the lads - they have a real drive and never give up. You can see how they kept grinding. I saw a group of young players who really wanted to get a point from a great team. The spirit, character and belief to keep going was immense and in the end we broke them down with 10 men."
Skubala had no complaints about the second yellow card shown to Jackson, but says the larger squad for this season minimises the impact.
He added: "He knows he's got that a little bit wrong, but I don't want to take that aggression away. It's the way we want to play.
"This is why we need depth to our squad - we've got players that can come in and cover those positions.
"It's a very good point on the road. You can see the difference from New Year's Day when we lost here - we've come a long way since then. We respect everyone, but fear no one."
Tom Hamer (top) was able come off the bench to celebrate his 25th birthday with a goal that meant City remain unbeaten on their travels since their last visit to Blackpool: “To be fair I never knew that George (Wickens) had come up. We go through set-pieces quite a lot during training and as you can see this season it has been paying off.
“You have seen all season we have been good from set-pieces. As long as the deliveries are good, you have got people good enough in the air to win the ball.”
Hamer also praised the togetherness of the side for battling through to earn the point, despite playing with ten men.
“Once you go down to ten men that's when you need to be more solid as a team. It shows the squad togetherness and spirit to go on and get that equaliser.”
Orient are currently languishing 20th in the table and have had a mainly indifferent start to the season losing at home 0-1 to Exeter City on Tuesday night.
The Imps will be favourites but the Os have shown they can cause an upset with a 1-4 away win at Stockport County.
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