Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley has insisted he is looking for a replacement forward, following the departure of Matt Green.

The 31-year-old former Mansfield striker left the club for non-league Salford City earlier in the week, after a successful 18 months at the club.

Cowley on Matt Green

When speaking about his now-former player, Cowley was full of praise. Stating that Green will be a difficult man to replace, due to what he brought to the team.

In his one and a half seasons at the club, Green managed 22 goals in 81 games. As he operated both up front, and on the wing.

And when questioned on a potential replacement, Cowley said that they are considering some options. Hoping that when January comes, they will have an idea as which ones they will pursue.

On the deal, he said:

“Sometimes, football clubs need to make business decisions as well as just football decisions. Certainly from a football point of view, I one hundred per cent agree. It would’ve been much better for us to allow Matt to go on the 1st of January.
“But the offer that was made by Salford was one that was significantly more for him go at this stage, not on January 1.
“I think everyone needs to remember that as a club, the success that we’ve had has been because of our ability to create our own funds. And that has come from both cup runs, and selling some key players.”

On a replacement, Cowley said:

“I think our style has evolved, and we’ve now got John (Akinde) and Matt (Rhead), who are both target men to us and we’ve got Shay that can play as a first forward.
“But we have got our eye on a few different options, we’ll just have to see how the next period of time unfolds. And we’ll see as to whether they’ll still be available to us come early January.”

With Matt Green now gone, Cowley will be hopeful that there are no injuries to his strike-force before January comes, and a replacement can be found.

Cowley on Newport

This Saturday sees Lincoln play at Sincil Bank for the final time in 2018, hosting fellow promotion chasers Newport County.

They are a team who have been experiencing very mixed league form of late. Being unbeaten in their last 6 games at home, but also failing to win their last 6 away from home.

Luckily for Cowley, Newport are the away team on Saturday. As he will be hoping his side can secure all three points to be top at Christmas.

On Saturday’s opponents, Cowley said:

“We are respectful of Newport, I think Mike Flynn has done a fantastic job since he went there. He saved them from relegation, then had a brilliant season last year.
“They’ve got some really good players, they score lots of goals. They have a style and a system that suits the players that they have at their disposal. So it will be a really tough game come Saturday.
“We’ll have to make sure that we really compete with them, as they play on the front foot and are aggressive. They will ask a lot of questions of us, but that Christmas dinner will taste so much better if we win.”

Cowley on Christmas

This weekend sees the Imps face their final fixture before Christmas day, an event that is celebrated all around the world.

But for footballers, it is a time to focus on the hectic fixture schedule. Although time is allowed for family and friends, Cowley knows that his squad must be focused if they are to succeed.

On Christmas, he said:

“I never like to say this in front of so many children, but Christmas is dead to me. It is what it is, for us, it’s just football. It’s our busiest period, and our total focus is on the four games we have in front of us.
“I haven’t given them (the players) Christmas Day off yet, but we’ll make an intelligent decision around that period. There is a balance that we have to get right, as the players will need to do some preparation work going into the Crewe game.
“If we can get the next four games right and 2019 right, then we can enjoy some time with our family come May.”

Getting Christmas off may depend on Saturday’s result, making it all the more important for players and staff alike.

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