Lincoln boss Danny Cowley disappointed with a point after late Port Vale setback

Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2019 by PA

Danny Cowley was disappointed that Lincoln did not press home their advantage after his side were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Port Vale.

Shay McCartan put the League Two leaders ahead in the 58th minute, but the goal was cancelled out by Manny Oyeleke’s sublime long-range effort as the struggling Valiants bagged a deserved point.

Cowley felt the Imps were too conservative after McCartan’s goal and invited pressure in the closing stages.

“I’m disappointed to have conceded so late, but I have to credit their player, it was a great strike off the underside of the bar,” said Cowley.

“I’m disappointed that, after going 1-0 up, we didn’t put pressure on pressure and try and get control of the ball in their half.

“All the boys are desperate to win. You won’t find a group as committed to the cause as ours, but sometimes wanting to win isn’t enough.

“You’ve got to make it happen, but we didn’t make it happen. As a consequence, we tried to see the game out which is not what we wanted to do.

“Here [at Sincil Bank], when we’re winning, we like to play in their half, but we didn’t and we got forced back.

“When that happens when you’re only 1-0 up, you’re always susceptible to conceding.”

Despite the setback, Cowley refused to be too critical of his players, who have taken seven points from four games over the festive period, one fewer than his target of eight.

“It’s hard for me to be critical of the players because they’ve given everything over this period,” Cowley added.

“When you’ve played four games over nine days, it’s incredibly challenging, mentally and physically.

“Physically, we’re really strong, so it wasn’t that, it was the mentality. We tried to hold on to what we had rather than continue to take the game to them.

“We’ll feel the pain and learn from it over the next couple of days.”

Despite securing a draw at the leaders, Vale boss Neil Aspin hinted he is ready to walk away from the club.

Aspin has been under mounting pressure after back-to-back home defeats to Grimsby and Oldham and was booed by the travelling fans after taking Ben Whitfield off in the second half.

“I thought the players were tremendous,” said Apsin. “They competed from the start.

“After the previous two games against them, losing 6-2 and 4-0, it was the worst possible game for us to have.

“You have to be honest, there are people who don’t want me at the club, the travelling supporters don’t want me at the club, but I think the players do want me at the club.

“The players all put in a shift and that has given me a lot of heart. We’ll just have to see what happens now.”

Aspin is due to meet Vale chairman Norman Smurthwaite to discuss his future on Thursday.