Danny Cowley is looking for his side to maintain their good form and show pride in their achievements ahead of kickoff against Newport County at Rodney Parade this afternoon.
With almost 1,000 supporters making the long trip south to see The Imps face the Exiles on the penultimate weekend of the SkyBet League Two season on a windy afternoon in South Wales, the City manager says his players owe them a performance as much as each other.
“It’s windy, the overhead conditions definitely play a part on days like this. The underfoot conditions aren’t easy either, it’s a difficult pitch and it’s a huge challenge against a difficult Newport team.” Danny said.
“For us today it’s about our pride and reputation and we’re bringing near on a thousand supporters. We’ll have enough boring Saturday’s to come so we’re putting all our efforts, focus and energy into playing well over these last two games.
“We were aware of the conditions; the pitch is tight. For us, it’s a great test. I think all this season our mentality has been brilliant and we always talk about the grit and determination that we have in abundance and there’s going to be no bigger test than this. It’s about our professional reputation and our pride and that’s worth more than any amount of points.”
Josh Vickers makes his long awaited return to the starting line up for City this afternoon and his manager said it’s testament to his hard work, and while the ‘keeper returns to the team Bruno Andrade is being given a well earned rest after a tough few weeks.
“He (Josh) had to be patient but he’s been excellent and trained fantastically well and deserves his opportunity. Bruno hasn’t trained too much over the past few weeks and felt it was the right decision to give him a rest and put him on the bench. We gave Harry a rest on Monday and we give Bruno the rest today.”
The Imps boss finally heaped praise on his opposite number ahead of kick off, referencing the terrific FA Cup run his side went on before eventually coming unstuck against Manchester City.
“Michael Flynn has done a fantastic job here, he’s done a brilliant job. To have the cup run they had and the amount of quality teams they beat here in that run, says how difficult a place this is to come. If your will and desire isn’t there, then they’ll run all over you.”
