Lincoln boss Michael Skubala expects twists and turns in play-off race

Lincoln head coach Michael Skubala expects there to be many more “twists and turns” in the League One play-off race after his side let slip a 1-0 lead late on to draw 1-1 at lowly Reading.

Lincoln, now unbeaten in 16 matches, went ahead much against the run of play in the 72nd minute, when substitute Freddie Draper nodded in a cross from Sean Roughan.

But Reading deservedly levelled seven minutes from the end, with defender Tyler Bindon heading in a corner from Lewis Wing from close range.

“All in all, it was a fair point,” Skubala said. “But I keep saying it, there are many more twists and turns to come.

“Reading have been great at home so, to come here and get a point, I’m pleased with that.

“I think it is probably a fair scoreline, when you look at it over the 90 minutes, though maybe a little bit disappointing for us after being 1-0 up.

“We wanted to see it out and we’ve been good recently with set-pieces [at defending them]. So that’s a bit disappointing as well.

“We have high standards, we want to win games and we came here to win.

“We started the game fast and had a couple of chances but then it settled for Reading. We were getting pulled about a little bit in the press.

“But in the second half, when we tidied things up, we looked the better team. And when we went 1-0 up, it felt calm.

“Okay, a set-piece has done us. But we go again, we keep fighting. I always say to the lads: ‘If you can’t win it, don’t lose it’.”

Reading remain six points clear of the relegation zone.

“That was one of our best performances of the season,” Reading manager Ruben Selles said.

“We dominated the action, we dominated the possession.

“Maybe we made a few mistakes in the build-ups but we were aggressive and always tried to play our game.

“We found ourselves behind, in just one action, but we showed character.

“We need to continue working and be more ruthless with the finishing in the final third because I think that we should have been in front before they scored.

“It is only a matter of time before we learn how to do that, to be ruthless, so that we can move on to the next level.

“We created situations and I think that we now have a pure identity. We just need to continue evolving that.

“I think we did enough to win and I thought we controlled every part of the game today. Overall, it was a good performance.”