Lincoln City head coach Michael Skubala believes Ethan Erhahon’s bizarre sending off cost his side in the 3-0 defeat at Bolton Wanderers yesterday.
Bolton started the game brightly but Lincoln were arguably the better team after a tough opening 10 minutes. Despite that, Aaron Collins gave the home team the lead in the 36th minute in what was in truth, a lacklustre first half.
The Imps were brandished a series of yellow cards prior to the break, the last of which went to midfielder Ethan Erhahon for dissent in added time of the first period. Things went from bad to worse for the former St Mirren man following the half time whistle when he was shown a second caution, again for berating the referee.
It was a huge turning point in the game, with the Trotters dominating the second half and sealing the points thanks to two goals from Jay Metete.
Sending Off ‘Changed The Game’
Following the defeat, Skubala revealed that he was in discussion about making changes to his team at half time, although the sending off forced a change of plan. Speaking to official club media, the 42-year-old said:
“We were still in the game and causing them problems, I was speaking with Chris Cohen about some tactical tweaks then that moment changed the game.
“We’re waiting for the referee’s report and there’s two sides to every story, so I need to see what the referee says.
“I was going to tweak a few things, and thought we’d get more pressure on and we would be better in the second half. So there’s no doubt in my mind that in the second half we would go and score a goal with 11 players.
“To come here and have to play with 10 men for such a long period against such a good team is really difficult. I’m bitterly disappointed with how the game has ended up, but credit to the 10 men who never gave up.”
Writer’s View
Erhahon’s sending off was petulant, but Skubala has refused to criticise the midfielder publicly. There’s no doubt that the moment of madness cost Lincoln the opportunity of getting back into the game in the second half. The 23-year-old is a player who is more than capable of playing in at least the Championship, but he needs to learn from this if he is going to take his game to the next level. Skubala will no doubt have made that known behind closed doors.
