City return to the LNER Stadium on Saturday 5 October looking to make it six games unbeaten in Sky Bet League One as they host Leyton Orient (3pm KO).
Read the views of both Michael Skubala and goalkeeper George Wickens ahead of the fixture as well as catching up on key match information in this preview.
Skubala’s thoughts:
“I don’t think the game is 11 v 11 anymore, the game is now 17 v 17 and if you want to play a certain way they have to make an impact. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 10, 30 or 45 minutes, they have to go and impact the game and carry on what the lads have been doing. That’s why it’s important to have depth and a good group.
“Leyton Orient are a good team, they press high, they want to dominate the ball, they’re aggressive. They've started okay and they’ll start moving up the league as they go but for sure they’ll be a strong team. We’ll have to be on it.
“At home we’ll have to take the game to them and try to get the three points. As much as we got a great point in Blackpool, we wanted three so we’ve got to go after them on Saturday. We want to start taking our away form into our home form, making sure we’re good in all areas but first and foremost we have to look after our job and see if we can get a positive result.”
Wickens’ take:
“For the majority of my games before Tuesday’s match, I’ve been kept fairly quiet as the defence is so solid in front of me. It was nice to be a bit more busy and make a few saves in the game, but it’s what I’m there to do so hopefully I can do a bit more of it when called upon.
“I’m in a good place, I feel like I’m confident and playing week in week out is exactly what I’ve wanted to do for a number of years now. This the perfect place to do that, it felt like that when I came in and that’s now starting to show.
“We’re in a good place with a lot of confidence, I think the best part is we’ve got points in games where we haven’t been at our best and I believe we haven’t quite got to what we can do yet, so it’s exciting to be where we are.”
A look at the opposition:
Orient have had a mixed start to the campaign, with Richie Wellens’ side currently occupying 20th in the early Sky Bet League One standings.
Following four straight defeats, the O’s achieved impressive victories at Reading and Stockport County before backing them up with draws against Peterborough United and Wrexham.
Their unbeaten run was brought to an end last time out in a narrow loss to Exeter, but Orient have certainly enjoyed success on their travels this season.
The last time the two sides met Jovon Makama scored a dramatic injury-time winner to seal a valuable three points for Skubala’s men.
Form: WWDDL
Top scorer: Charlie Kelman, Ethan Galbraith (3 goals)
Match information:
The Imps will be in their usual red and white home strip on Saturday, and you can get yours HERE!
Ross Joyce will referee the match with Matthew Sowerby and Stephen Wade appointed as his assistants. Andrew Humphries will be the fourth official.
Make sure you’re there to support the lads by purchasing your ticket HERE.