We lost a match, nobody died – Mark Kennedy hails response to FA Cup shock

Posted Wednesday, November 09, 2022 by PA

Mark Kennedy discovered that three days is a long time in football after his Lincoln side pulled off a Carabao Cup third-round shock at Ashton Gate.

The Imps head coach had watched his League One team dumped out of the FA Cup by non-league Chippenham at the weekend.

But what a response he got as first-half strikes from Matty Virtue and Ben House set Lincoln on course to create a surprise of their own.

Kennedy said: “We rightly took a lot of criticism on Saturday because it was a poor result for us and there was no glossing over that.

“But we tried to stay focused on what we felt had been a very positive start to the season.

“My pre-match talk tonight was about life. We had lost a football match at the weekend, but nobody died and there are more important things.

“That doesn’t mean for a minute that we didn’t care about losing in the FA Cup. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“But we needed to stay balanced and I am delighted for the group of players that they responded so well.

“They are a great group and a real pleasure to work with, so I am delighted that after the criticism they will get the plaudits.

“Even so, we will stay grounded and not get carried away.”

Paudie O’Connor headed a third four minutes after the break and the best the Championship club could manage was an 80th-minute reply from substitute Tommy Conway.

Robins boss Nigel Pearson admitted: “That was hard work. Some of our players simply didn’t turn up.

“I don’t know if it was a lack of confidence or lack of bottle, but we were poor tonight and there is no getting away from that.

“The game showed we don’t have the necessary depth to the squad. We made changes at half-time, but even then we huffed and puffed without doing enough.

“Joe Low has made a mistake that has cost us a goal and is upset, but he is a good young player and he will come back. It annoyed me that he didn’t get much help.

“I was hopeful he would have a positive experience, but for that to happen the team had to do better.

“There is constant pressure on the manager of a football club, but do I worry about it? Of course not.

“We are where we are because of what we are having to do, which is change the squad. We need to strengthen in defensive areas, but I’m not sure that is going to be possible.”