City boss Michael Appleton is anticipating another good game at LNER Stadium on New Year’s Day following the victory against Ipswich Town last Sunday. The win over the Tractorboys was one which The Imps’ manager acknowledged the game and performance certainly captured the imagination of the supporters and he’s looking ahead to another packed stadium for the visit of Peterborough United.
Michael said that it was particularly pleasing that his side’s efforts in breaching the opposing defences came to fruition last time out after a recent period in which they had threatened to do so, without getting the rewards his side arguably deserved.
“I do think us having a game where we took our opportunities was coming. We’ve been creating chances of late, before Sunday we’d lost a couple of tight games against a couple of really, really good sides. It showed the lads are more than capable of competing with the top sides in the division, so we need to do that on a regular basis and be more consistent.”
Although the next opponents standing in the way have had a recent blip in terms of their form, the City boss admits that the players Posh have in attacking areas in particular are amongst the best in League One. It was those players who hurt The Imps in the previous meeting between the two sides, but Michael says his side are a different one to that who faced Darren Ferguson’s side back in mid-October.
“They have quality in a lot of areas, they’re still amongst the top scorers in the division. At their place we played well, really well until around the 70-minute mark and maybe lost the impetus we had when they scored the opening goal. I think we’ve moved on from that if I’m being honest. We’ve got to a point now where we’ve dealt with disappointment quite well, we could have quite easily caved in on Sunday when it went to 2-2 or 4-3, it could have been very difficult for the players but very quickly we were back on the front foot looking to score the goal.”
Michael says there could be a welcome boost to the squad with the return of Jason Shackell following his recent injury problems, however, the game on New Year’s Day could come a little too soon for the experienced defender who has been out of the side since the win at Burton Albion in early December.
“He is close to a return but it could be too soon for him tomorrow, but if there’s no reaction over the next couple of days he could be in the squad for the game against Sunderland.”
If you can't get to the game on New Year's Day, remember, you can watch the action unfold LIVE on WeAreImps iFollow by purchasing a match pass. The game is available for domestic and internationally based Imps, complemented with commentary from BBC Radio Lincolnshire's Michael Hortin and Steve Thompson. To buy your match pass - CLICK HERE