Lincoln City manager Michael Skubala is wary of a potential ‘new manager bounce’ ahead of tomorrow’s League One clash with Port Vale.
Darren Moore was appointed First Team Manager earlier this month after the Staffordshire-based club opted to part ways with Andy Crosby. The ex-Huddersfield Town boss has overseen two defeats thus far against Cheltenham Town and Reading, which has seen the Valiants drop into the bottom four.
Lincoln visit Vale Park tomorrow afternoon looking to continue their recent good form. The Imps have won three of their last four outings and are unbeaten in seven as they look to hang on to their slim chance of gatecrashing the play-off places.
Skubala’s team recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Exeter City at Sincil Bank last weekend. It was a game where the hosts were really troubled, despite the Grecians enjoying the lion’s share of possession, and Joe Taylor’s first strike for the club was enough to secure the three points.
A win tomorrow could see the East Midlands outfit leapfrog Leyton Orient into ninth, with the Os travelling to play-off chasing Oxford United. However, the former Leeds United under-21 coach insists that his focus is solely on his team rather than those around them:
“We want to keep the run going and we need to take every game as it comes,” the 41-year-old told the club’s official website. “We have to focus on what we do rather than worrying about other people and what they’re doing.
“You have to trust your own ways and processes which is something we do as coaching staff at the club, and hopefully we can keep picking up points.”
Although Port Vale are on a run of eight league fixtures without a win, Skubala is not expecting an easy game and is predicting a ‘new manager bounce’:
“The recent results definitely help the belief and confidence, but experience tells me that football can change really quickly.
“I think there will be a new manager bounce. There’s definitely a way where he’s trying to change the team and we know it’s going to be a tough place to go with the size of their pitch.”
Writer’s View
Michael Skubala initially struggled to transform Lincoln when he replaced Mark Kennedy in November, although an array of injuries and suspensions within his squad certainly played a part. It’s not a coincidence that results have improved as players have started to return, plus adding the likes of Freddie Draper and Joe Taylor to his attacking options.
Port Vale will feel that Darren Moore is the right man to pull them out of their current predicament. This is evident by the huge five-and-a-half-year contract he was handed, but the in-form Imps are perhaps not the ideal opposition to come up against when he is searching for his first points at his new club.
