Lincoln City midfielder Michael O’Connor believes the club’s 1-0 win over Stevenage is the type of result which could well get the Imps promoted this season.
The 31-year-old who arrived at Sincil Bank from Notts County in the summer spoke to press about the importance of keeping clean sheets and picking up three points ahead of City’s home league tie with Morecambe on Saturday: “The 1-0 wins away from home are the results that get you promoted.
“We kept a clean sheet last weekend so that’s now two clean sheets from two games and I thought it was a great solid win. I love those wins where you roll your sleeves up and work hard because at the end of the season you look back and realise that it was a massive three points earned.”
The former Northern Ireland international went on to explain the benefit of having no Tuesday night fixture before going on to discuss the busy Christmas period: “We have worked hard on the training ground, Tuesday we had a good tough physical day with no game.
“Today we were working towards the game on Saturday by looking at shape. It has been a good week, we have a lot of games coming up so it was good to have a week off."
“I think at the end of January and start of February you know where you are at. I think we have four games in two weeks so if we can pick up 12 points in that time frame then we have a good chance going into January and being in the top three.”
City returned to SkyBet League Two action last Saturday following FA Cup and Checkatrade Trophy action. The Imps secured a 1-0 win over Stevenage thanks to John Akinde’s first half penalty.
O’Connor, who was part of a midfield three alongside Lee Frecklington and Tom Pett against Stevenage went on to talk about his fellow midfielders: “I think we understand how the other one is going to play, for example who is going to bomb on and who is going to sit. The three of us know how to play with each other so for the first half hour we got on the ball really well. The conditions didn’t help but we got a good 1-0 win.
“It is good to have three of us on the ball so there is always an option for someone, last week was a horrible day with the wind being around 30mph but we saw the game out.
“We are three different players, Frecks [Lee Frecklington] likes to burst into the box and Petty [Tom Pett] likes to get on the ball with the half turn, then I like to sit a bit deeper so it is great to have those three options. “
The 31-year-old finished by looking at Saturday’s clash describing it as a great chance to go top: “We have to look after ourselves and keep winning. Saturday is a great chance to go top plus we have a game in hand against Yeovil so we will just concentrate on ourselves.”
Tickets are still available for the game this weekend against Morecambe, but they are selling quickly. You can buy your tickets now from the Sincil Bank ticket office or on line HERE