Lincoln United and Lincoln City women look ahead to the upcoming season

 PUBLISHED on the Linc: July 27, 2021 

Lincoln United’s manager Sam Wilkinson has been speaking about the club’s pre-season work. The Whites are preparing for the Northern Premier League-East season that begins on 14 August 2021.

Wilkinson said: “Pre-seasons been going pretty well, we’ve been training Tuesdays and Thursdays. We work on a lot of things, fitness being one because we haven’t played in a while. We train for about two hours doing a lot of technical work to get the lads on the ball and physical work to get ready for the season.

“It’s going well but we’ve got a few players injured. We’ve got Callum Chapman and George Aspen who need operations which is a blow. Simon Biggs got injured training between lockdown and the start of pre-season. He’s hopefully going to be available back fit in September. It’s not gone brilliantly due to injuries but we’ve had some young lads step in.”

We’re starting to get to where we want to be and learning how to defend against better teams like Boston and limit their chances. We still have room to improve and we have everyone back and fit we’ll be able to get a bit of consistency in the team.”

The Whites have some young additions to the team like Lewis Smith and Tobias Liversidge. Wilkinson commented: “The new young lads have fitted in well, not well-known names but local, hungry lads who want to do well for us. We’ve got some young lads coming from our development squad who played for our under 18s like Max Baker. He’s fitted into our pre-season games excellently. Andy Janssen scored in his last two games for us- he’s come back fitter than anyone. It’s a credit to the club having a couple of players come from our development squad and have come into the squad and done well. The squad looks good and if we get everybody back fit, I think we’ll do well.”

The team do have experience having players like Kallum Smith, Harry Millard and Matt Cotton. Wilkinson said: “We’re young but I wouldn’t say we lack experience because they’ve played lots of non-league games. The young squad brings a freshness and brings the best out of the experienced lads as some of them need that energy, positivity and no fear. The experienced lads can help the others along.”

Training with Covid hasn’t been easy, the manager said: “It’s a nightmare, we’ve missed a player every match as they’re isolating. We still have to be quick out of the changing rooms and the lads have their own water bottles. It’s a massive pain and I hope it gets better because it will affect us- it’s not ideal for anyone but we try to prepare the team the best we can. We hope to have a full season without interruptions.

“We want to progress, the changes to the team have meant a new way of playing and the lads have got to grasp that, we’re not where we want to be but we’re showing signs of keeping that steady progression. The age of the squad is an advantage, they work their socks off and give everything. I’m sure by the 14 August we’ll be ready.”

No comments:

Post a Comment

About me

Hello! I'm Molly Bryan and I'm a final year journalism student at the University of Lincoln looking for a career in media or marketi...