Few expected Lincoln City to be in the picture for automatic promotion from League One.
Some did predict the edge of the play-offs, but even me, in my rose-tinted glasses, saw 11th as being a big achievement. Knowing we’re now 18th in the budget table, I’d have stuck by that, had the team not exploded into life over the last couple of months.
We had a solid start to the season, and while there was a stumble through November, but it proved to be a minor hiccup in the grand scheme of things. Christmas, a period usually fraught with defeat and dismal outings, proved to be exciting and fruitful, and now January has been the same.
Addressing the promotion race, head coach Michael Skubala was his usual self, playing down the business others have done and just focusing on Lincoln City.
“I think we had a really strong one,” Michael said of the Christmas period. “It shows what we can do. The lads performed brilliantly over Christmas and had to dig out wins in tough conditions. It is not easy to put those wins and performances together.
“Now we are into the business end of the season. We are in and around it and we want to stay there. Some big clubs have done some massive resource, but that does not bother us. We will concentrate on being us and on what we are good at, and take every game as it comes to try and get three points.”
The expectation is mounting, given our recent run of 12 unbeaten, and the cushion we have from the chasing pack, but Michael refused to be drawn on expectations or limitations. When asked if the team were exceeding expectations, he was pragmatic.
“For us it starts in pre-season when you bring a group together, see them bonding and working hard, and you feel you can hit the ground running, which we did. It is about maintaining that, and now it is about the end run.
“I do not think you can put a ceiling on any group of players, and I do not think you can put one on this group. They keep improving, they train hard every day, and while we drive that as coaches, they drive it themselves.
“I am not too fussed about putting limits on these lads. Let others do that.”
I won’t be putting limits on, but the role of this site is to evaluate, second-guess and predict. Are they exceeding expectations? It depends on whose expectations. Pundits? Yes. Fans? Yes. Maybe even some board members, but internally, it feels like there is an attitude of ‘keep doing what we’re doing, expect nothing and promise nothing’.
That’ll do for me. Especially if it results in a trip to Molineux next season, and maybe even West Ham United, as equals.