Michael Skubala paid tribute to the summer transfer window after City secured another win on the road at Oakwell.
The Imps made it five wins from six at Oakwell in all competitions with a fine 2-0 victory, courtesy of Tom Hamer’s head and Adam Reach’s scruffy finish on 72 minutes. It gave City nine points from three games against tough opposition, and cemented our place in the top two, ensuring we enter 2026 in second place.
“To get maximum points out of these three has been an amazing Christmas period for everybody,” Michael told John Helm after the game.
“I don’t know when we last had a good Christmas period, I definitely haven’t since I’ve been here, but we knew this would be important.”
Jokingly referenced on our summer transfer window special, Jez George said we signed players because we ‘wanted to score a goal in December’ and while that was an off-the-cuff remark intended to raise a smile, it was funny because it had its roots in our usual Christmas slump.
Michael reinforced that belief as he referenced the business we did adding depth to the squad for the (too) busy Christmas period.
“When we look at what we did in the summer, this is why we did it, to try and get some more points in this time and have a method of how we want to do things.”
The Imps never looked in danger in what is becoming a routine performance, structured and committed. Barnsley have good players and should be doing better, but the Imps worked trielessly to ensure all three points came back to LN5.
“I thought tonight we were solid,” said Michael. “We had great structure. This is a good team with the ball, they can cause real problems and they score a lot of goals, but we didn’t let them have a sniff.
“We knew on turnover and transition there would be big moments for us, and on set pieces. In the end it was a brilliant set-piece delivery from Ivan, a great Tom Hamer header, and then a worldie from Reach’s right foot.”
Having beaten Barnsley in November and December, as well as that run oif wins at Oakwell, the players might have been forgiven for thinking this would be more straightforward than Stockport, but that was a message the coaching team wanted to make clear ahead of the tie.
“We warned them about complacency. We’ve played them twice, we’ve beaten them twice, go and beat them a third time. I thought we were solid.
“What epitomises our team is Jack Moylan and Dom Jefferies running back 80 metres to stop crosses and get to players. Their work ethic is unbelievable as a group. That’s us, we’ll work hard for the badge every day, and you can see that on the pitch.”
There’s now a quick turnaround for Huddersfield on New Year’s Day, a massive clash that few thought would see them trying to catch us when the fixtures dropped back in June.
It’s going to be a packed crowd, and hopefully not reminiscent of 1982/83, when City were running away with the Third Division, only for a Christmas clash with Huddersfield to spark a slump.
On that occasion, more than 11,000 cheered the Imps on. Hopefully, we can see a five-figure attendance for this huge game, in which a win would really underline us as genuine automatic promotion contenders.