Danny Cowley praises resilience of injury-plagued Lincoln City after play-off draw with Exeter City
Saturday 12 May 2018 18:58, UK
Danny Cowley hailed his walking wounded after Lincoln's goalless first-leg draw with Exeter in their League Two play-off semi-final.
The sides will go into the second leg in Devon on Thursday still level after a tight and tense game at Sincil Bank.
Cowley is hopeful his side will be in a stronger position for the return match after being hindered by injuries in recent weeks.
Key players Michael Bostwick and Neal Eardley played despite being well short of full fitness, while Sam Habergham and Lee Frecklington were sidelined.
"We've had to come through a lot in the last three weeks in terms of injuries. We've really struggled with the balance in our team," said Cowley.
"Neal Eardley and Michael Bostwick wouldn't have been more than 75 per cent fit. The fact they were willing to put the team before themselves and come through as well as they did shows what they're all about.
"We'll hopefully get one or two back [for the second leg], which will give us more balance and get Bozzy [Bostwick] and Eards [Eardley] in a better condition. But we've also picked up one or two more injuries."
Cowley was not surprised by the closeness of the game.
"It was a very tight game between two good teams," he added. "They probably edged the first half and we definitely had the better of the second half. We played with a lot more purpose and intent in the second half.
"We knew where we were at physically and knew there would be a ceiling in terms of our performance levels given the injuries we've had."
