Lincoln City Manager Addresses Rejected Targets

Lincoln City manager Michael Skubala believes the manager ‘guessed’ when he made the decision to disallow Reeco Hackett’s goal against Wigan Athletic yesterday afternoon.

The Imps began the day just one day outside the League One play-off places after snapping a 16-game unbeaten run. They were looking to put pressure on sixth-placed Oxford United, who hosted Peterborough United at the Kassam Stadium.

Wigan started the two-goal tie the stronger, taking the lead in the 20th minute thanks to good work from Jonny Smith. Lincoln thought they had equalized through Joe Taylor, but the striker was ruled offside. However, Danny Mandroiu equalized five minutes before the break to restore parity.

With Oxford comfortably beating Peterborough, the East Midlands side knew they had to take it. Another goal was scored by Taylor after he didn’t have time to run before calmly slotting home but the hosts were later denied a third goal before Charlie Hughes broke the hearts of the home fans with the winning goal in the 90th minute.

It was the disallowed third strike that has caused controversy though. Lasse Sorenson’s deep cross found Taylor on the byline, who then headed the ball back inside the six-yard box for Hackett to score. The midfielder ruled the ball out of play from the Dane’s cross, with replays showing the decision was a tough one.

After the match, Skubala gave his thoughts, claiming that the goalkeeper had guessed before raising his flag for the goal:

“They said the ball wasn’t played,” the former Leeds United coach said the club’s official media. “To me, that’s a big call. That’s a big call because we’re looking at it and we don’t think it’s over.

“I’ll be honest, that’s the thing that has disappointed me because I’m not sure about the lineman in that position. I don’t usually go off about linemen and referees, but that’s a big call.

“It’s an assumption and I don’t think that’s right. I don’t think you can predict a game like this today by chance. (If) we go 2-1, we can get three points.

“Honestly, I support the linesmen, I support the referees all the time, but I think that’s a big call. If he’s right, he’s right, but a big call.

It was a result that left Lincoln five points outside the play-off places and saw them slip to eighth place. They travel to Oxford on Tuesday night in a must win game to have any chance of making the top six.

Author’s Perspective

Skubala’s frustration was palpable and it’s easy to see why. If that goal stands, no one bats an eyelid. Whether the planner predicted it or not is another matter, but there is no denying that it looked very difficult.

Lincoln will feel they did enough to win, although Wigan looked dangerous throughout. They frustrated their opponents and did not allow them to dictate the game, which ultimately played into their hands. The Latics were certainly happy to step up, evident from their time-wasting from the very early stages of the second half, but they will be happy to have ended the longest unbeaten run in the EFL.

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