The Imps picked up a point away from home on Saturday against Wigan Athletic, in a game of few chances.
Michael Skubala opted for a few changes from the victory over Cambridge almost two weeks ago. Lukas Jensen kept his place in goal, while captain Paudie O’Connor came into the side alongside TJ Eyoma and Adam Jackson. Lasse Sorensen returned from injury at right wing-back, so Dylan Duffy dropped out of the team with Jack Burroughs moving over to the left side of defence. Ethan Hamilton and Ethan Erhahon maintained their almost ever-present status in midfield, while Danny Mandroiu and Ali Smith supported Jovon Makama in attack, who made his third consecutive football league start. There was some positive news on the bench too, Ted Bishop and Sean Roughan returned to the matchday squad, giving Skubala a much needed boost after the news of Tyler Walker’s long term injury during the week.
City started the better of the two sides, with Mandroiu showing his quality early on with a perfect ball over the top to Sorensen. Fortunately for the hosts, the ball was bundled behind for a corner but it was an early warning sign from the Imps. Following a corner that didn’t trouble the opposition, the game entered a quiet period, which lasted for the majority of the first half. Chances were limited for both sides, Hamilton had an effort from distance and Sorensen had an effort blocked from the edge of the area.
Wigan created even less than that though, until a mistake towards the end of the half. An error in the middle of the park left the Imps outnumbered in defence, luckily it came to nothing although Mandroiu was booked for his attempt to halt the attack with a late sliding challenge. There was a controversial refereeing moment in the first half – the Wigan goalkeeper seemingly picked up the ball following a back pass. Looking back at it after the game, it looks as if it came off Makama, although the iFollow angle makes it slightly unclear.
The Imps started the second half in a similar manner to the first – on top. Smith and Makama linked up on the right to find Burroughs, but the Coventry City loanee fired his effort over the bar from the edge of the area. That half chance was the only moment in the first twenty minutes of the second half, both teams had possession in midfield, but just as it was in the first-half, we matched Wigan and they matched us.
Eyoma probably had our best chance of the game. Mandroiu’s corner to the back post was dangerous, Smith won the first ball and headed back into the middle of the area. The ball fell to Eyoma, in similar fashion to the way he scored against Barnsley, but unfortunately the Wigan defenders managed to get bodies in the way and stop the defender netting his second goal in three games.
While on the subject of Eyoma, I think it’s worth mentioning that he had another great game yesterday. He feels like the player we watched against Sunderland in the play-off semi-final, and alongside Jackson and O’Connor, who were both excellent yesterday, especially the latter, we have one of the best back three’s in League One, and that’s without mentioning Alex Mitchell, who was unlucky to miss out yesterday.
It was also good to see Bishop back on the pitch, I’ve made no secret that I’m a big fan of him and if he stays fit he’s easily one of the most creative players in the league. The key is obviously staying fit, and I really hope he can because I’d love to see him in an Imps shirt on a regular basis. On the subject of substitutes, I thought they all came on and did their jobs. Jack Vale pressed really well, as did Duffy when he came on and I though Roughan coped well on the left when he replaced Burroughs.
The big incident in the last ten minutes was when Wigan scored. It was given as a foul on Jensen. It was the right call from the referee, Wigan fans won’t agree but from an unbiased point of view, it is a stonewall foul on the Danish keeper. There were a few more big calls from the referee in the few minutes, Wigan should’ve been down to ten men just a few minutes later – Callum McManaman booted the ball away after already being on a yellow. The other incident saw a hard challenge from Duffy in 97th minute, which some may say he was lucky to escape with just a yellow from it.
On reflection I’d have to say Wigan are a good side, they should be on the same points as us without their point deduction and on top of that they have only lost one game in fourteen following yesterday’s result. It may have been considered boring at times, but I was fairly pleased with the way we played, we were resilient at the back, limiting them to just a few half chances on we looked dangerous on the attack, at times, just missing that final pass.
We are moving in the right direction, five points off the play-offs with some big games coming up as well as an important January transfer window. Reeco Hackett will be a big boost when he comes back, and we’ve got Jack Moylan to look forward too as well. We are a few pieces away from being top six quality, but this Christmas period will be key for determining whether we are play-off challengers or not.
We take the point and move onto a big game against Accrington, which sets us up a home tie with Bolton if we win. Our next league game sees us finally back at home, for the first time in a while against struggling Reading. Up the Imps!