James Wilson netted against his former club as the Blues drew 1-1 with Lincoln City in new manager Paul Cook’s first home game in charge. January Town target Morgan Rogers gave the Imps a 29th-minute lead as the visitors dominated the first half, however, Wilson nodded in his second goal in three games to claim a share of the points as the Blues improved after the break.

Cook made three changes from the team which lost 3-1 at Gillingham on Saturday with Flynn Downes, Gwion Edwards and Jack Lankester coming into the side for Josh Harrop, Keanan Bennetts and Troy Parrott.

Downes joined Andre Dozzell in the centre of midfield with Teddy Bishop in the number 10 role, Edwards on the right and Lankester on the left.

Alan Judge was back on the bench having been given compassionate leave at the weekend following his mother’s death.

None of Town’s six loanees started, for the first time in the league since the 1-0 defeat at Lincoln in October, while five of the XI came through the academy.

Lincoln made two changes from the team which beat Crewe 3-0 at Sincil Bank on Saturday with TJ Eyoma and Tom Hopper coming into the starting line-up for Regan Poole and Callum Morton, who dropped to the bench. Ex-Town loanee Tayo Edun started for the Imps, who named only six subs.

Joining the first team coaches on the field prior to the game to observe the warm-up and chat at length to Judge was U23s coach Kieron Dyer.

After both teams, again with the exception of Toto Nsiala, took a knee in support of Black Lives Matter, Lincoln hit the first serious shot of the game in the fifth minute, Rogers’s low effort from the edge of the area curling past Tomas Holy’s right post.

But Town saw most of the ball in the following minutes, but without finding a way through the Lincoln defence.

The Imps subsequently had a spell on top but also without being able to work a chance. On 16 Cohen Bramall blazed wide after Chambers had headed clear a corner from the right.

Five minutes later, from another Imps corner on the right, the ball fell to Rogers in space in the box but his low effort at goal was blocked by Chambers. The on-loan Manchester City man will have felt he should have done better.

Lincoln were well on top and in the 23rd minute they almost went in front. Eyoma sent over a dangerous low ball from the right and Nsiala turned it on to his own post, blocked a follow-up header and eventually helped scramble it behind while on the floor. Had the centre-half not diverted it on to the post a Lincoln player behind him would almost certainly have tapped home from a matter of inches.

The Blues had just about kept that out but in the 29th minute the Imps took a deserved lead.

Rogers, who Town tried to sign on loan before he moved to the Imps in January, was played the ball not far inside the Town half, brought it forward and then inside from the right before smashing a 25-yard strike past the static Holy and into the net.

It looked one the keeper will feel he should have stopped but seemed not to pick up as it wobbled through the air towards him.

Town had struggled to make any headway going forward but on 37 Norwood won the ball midway inside the Imps half and fed Edwards to his right but the Welshman wasted his cross.

The Blues came very close to levelling in the 41st minute. Downes, who had swapped roles with Bishop, was fouled by Edun on the left and Dozzell sent over a free-kick which reached Nsiala at the far post but the central defender directed his header the wrong side of the post.

Three minutes later, Edun again felled Downes, this time not far outside the area to the right and, after the ex-Blues loanee had been booked, Dozzell curled a goalbound free-kick past the wall but Lincoln keeper Alex Palmer was able to paw away and then claim at the second attempt ahead of Nsiala.

Lincoln were well worth their lead at the break even if the Blues had had a couple of opportunities towards the end of the half.

After the Blues had had a decent early spell, the visitors had been very much in charge for most of the rest of the half, passing the ball around quickly, slickly and incisively, and might well have been ahead before Rogers’s fifth goal of the season.

Town huffed and puffed thereafter with their late chances coming courtesy of set pieces with nothing of note created from open play.

Blues wingers Edwards and Lankester swapped wings ahead of the second half with Downes and Bishop returning to their earlier roles.

Town saw more of the ball in the opening spell and more often in the opposition half of the field than before the break but without creating another chance. On 50, Bishop was booked for a foul on Edun.

But the Blues were appearing to grow in confidence and in the 58th minute Norwood was sent away down the right and whipped over a dangerous cross which a defender nodded away from Edwards who had broken into the box.

Cook made a triple sub, as he had at Gillingham, on the hour with Parrott, Bennetts and Judge replacing Bishop, Edwards and Lankester. Parrott took up his usual role behind Norwood with Judge on the left and Bennetts on the right.

Three minutes after coming on, Parrott was fouled by Lewis Montsma on the Town left, the Lincoln defender picking up a yellow card.

The Blues continued to see a lot of the ball, with Lincoln not unhappy to sit back on their lead, but without creating any clear-cut chances until the 72nd minute when they levelled.

Edun fouled Dozzell a third of the way inside the Lincoln half. The midfielder took the free-kick, Chambers nodded it back across goal from the right to an unmarked Wilson, who found the corner of the net with well-placed his header to claim his second goal in three games and his first at Portman Road against his old club.

Although their chances had been limited, the Blues had been on top since the break and the goal continued their recent run of set-piece goals, their last six having come from either corners or free-kicks.

Lincoln swapped Morton for Hopper as they prepared to restart following the goal, then on 79 Anthony Scully for Edun and on 82 replaced Eyoma with Poole.

The Imps had rarely entered Town’s half in the second period but on 83 Brennan Johnson seized on an Nsiala error and took the ball to the left of the area but Holy did well to block at an angle. A minute later, Downes was booked for a foul on Adam Jackson.

In four minutes of time added on, Norwood was replaced by Kayden Jackson but there wasn’t time for the striker to make his mark before referee James Oldham ended proceedings.

Town were much better in the second half, wresting control from the Imps, who had been very much on top before the break.

The Blues had been unable to create a serious chance but once again they were able to profit from a set piece with Wilson taking his opportunity clinically.

A draw against the third-placed Imps is a very creditable result, particularly after the first half.

Manager Cook was a more vocal presence on the touchline than he had been at Gillingham - or perhaps it was just he couldn’t be heard above Steve Evans’s constant diatribe towards the officials at the Priestfield Stadium - urging his players to press and not to commit fouls among other instructions.

Town, who now only have to play Portsmouth, at Fratton Park, of the sides above them, climb a place to seventh, one point behind Pompey in sixth, ahead of Saturday’s home game against Plymouth.

Town: Holy, Chambers (c), Nsiala, Wilson, Kenlock, Dozzell, Downes, Lankester (Judge 60), Bishop (Parrott 60), Edwards (Bennetts 60), Norwood. Unused: Cornell, Ward, Harrop, Jackson.

Lincoln: Palmer, Eyoma (Poole 82), Jackson, Monstma, Bramall, Edun (Scully 79), McGrandles, Jones, Rogers, Johnson, Hopper (Morton 73). Unused: Long, Archibald, Roughan. Referee: James Oldham (Derbyshire).

Photo: Matchday Images

bootneckspud added 07:39 - Mar 10 Such early days and lots to look forward to with PC at the helm. For me Bennett's looks dangerous but his passing and final ball is the worst I've ever seen. Nsiala is a very good defender if the ball isn't played to his feet. I do believe the team will come good once cook has a little time to get the best out of them and if not this season then after a summer clear out. Let's give cook time he deserves.

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Nobbysnuts added 07:57 - Mar 10 Rubbish non promotion football and if you think anything else you must be drinking the same stuff as shambert...
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ArnieM added 07:59 - Mar 10 In the cold light of day , that was a very good point against a very organised team that rarely loses . It's a start 👍. The squad/ team isn't suddenly going to be world beaters . The squad is still full of under performing, largely lethargic players . Roll on the summer frankly . Cook will get the squad he wants . The stars area aligned ......
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Help added 08:27 - Mar 10 Well I would have taken a point from that game before hand and will take that now. Interesting reversal of subs. looked to add a bit of bite to the team 2nd half. Still need to get things together across the pitch with same old mistakes across the pitch. I did not expect us to win all of the coming games and there will be blips along the way, but if we ca grind out draws and get wins against lower teams we can get into the play-offs. I am not saying we will win, but there have been times this season we had given up hope of even getting near the play-offs. Notice Sears was not in the 18. He had his chance on Saturday in front of a new manager and I think he blew it with a poor performance. Move on to the next game an hopefully 3 points in the bag in this topsy turvey league

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GatesPerm added 08:44 - Mar 10 As well as partnerships, I think the big challenge for Cook is can he get Dozzell, Bishop, Lankester, etc to consistently influence a game in the top third of the pitch. If the answer to that is no, then we are going to have to accept that they may not be as good as we want to believe they are.
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midastouch added 09:05 - Mar 10 Good points GatesPerm. Are Dozzell, Bishop and Lankester any better than Dobra and El Mizouni? I'm not so sure. Dozzell and Bishop get loads more opportunities though. Dozzell can look champagne at certain times but he also goes long periods in matches where he vanishes under the radar and you barely know he's on the pitch. To be fair to Lankester, he doesn't get as many opportunities as Dozzell and Bishop so it's probably a bit unfair for me to contrast his fortunes against Dobra and El Mizouni. Dobra hasn't really ripped it up in the first team but he's shown some exciting glimpses of what he might be able to do if given more of a run in the team. Look at Kenlock, now he's finally been given a run of games he's looking a lot more confident and capable. If Dobra got given a run of games I think there's a good chance we'd see him produce just as much as Dozzell or Bishop, if not possibly more. I also think El Mizouni deserves more of a look in too. Look at pre-season goal for example. Who else in the first team has goals like that in their locker? Very few I would say.

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Michael101 added 09:13 - Mar 10 Easy to be wise after the event but I think Paul cook should have got The got in December then he would have had time to sort out the squad,got rid of the Dead wood .now he's stuck with a oversized squad with a lot of players not up to the job. Roll on next season.
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oldelsworthyfan added 09:48 - Mar 10 Chambers is so good in the opposition' penalty area that he could make a decent partner for Norwood up front, (whenever KVY comes back)! Could he then be a reincarnation of Ted Phillips?
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norfolkbluey added 09:57 - Mar 10 There is no hope of promotion until we start scoring more goals. It is becoming very apparent there is a lack of guile up front or indeed speed in getting there with enough players in the box. The defence has improved with Wilson and Chambers adding to the goal threat and what on earth would our goal tally be without them. Get the forwards scoring more and yes we might get up there but I wouldn't put our chances of promotion high in the playoffs. We are just too inconsistent. Maybe PC will get some rationality back in the team. We can only hope.

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JET added 10:03 - Mar 10 a decent game yesterday, very disappointed however that we are having to rely on defenders for goals but cant complain if there providing. we need the team to understand each other more, too many stray balls or balls played to the wrong run yesterday but hopefully with time this will improve.
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Razor added 11:01 - Mar 10 Very very disappointing especially after the manager had quite correctly identified our main problem and then tried to rectify tis by playing just one striker up front-----seems familiar!! I only hope that was because he was giving the opposition due respect and trying to keep it tight. I will be disillusioned if the cheeky chappy with the funny accent does not go with Nozza and Jackson up front on Saturday in a game which we must win----powe and pace together is what is needed. The jury is most definitely still out!!

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Orraman added 11:10 - Mar 10 Last 6 goals all from set pieces - last 2 goals from defenders. Just shows how sh..e our strikers are and how clueless our attacking midfield is although on recent form I would have to say that Judge is starting to show the ability we all hoped for. I have no doubt this is already blindingly obvious to PC and that he will be working on some plan to overcome these deficiencies until the end of the season. Play offs certainly within reach and PC does have a good record in knockout football so..... who knows?

1

Marinersnose added 11:34 - Mar 10 Rome wasn't built in a day and in order to build it the correct materials were needed. PC has a huge squad of mediocre players. I think the Summer will see huge changes and PC will start to build a proper team. He can already see that we lack quality all the way through the squad. It's a massive job. Be patient
0

blueboy1981 added 11:43 - Mar 10 Early days of assessment of course - but three points needed, and surely Jackson and Norwood up front from the start would have stood a better chance of goals, and a home win ?? Just a thought ... !!!
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londontractorboy57 added 12:09 - Mar 10 Fast forward this site 12/18 months cook out cook out.
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johnwarksshorts added 13:19 - Mar 10 Anyone else on here want 442 Nors and or Parrot Jackson up top? Jackson slowly getting some game time, so hopefully PC looking to do 2 up top. He said himself we lacked goals so let's do this. COYB.
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johnwarksshorts added 13:20 - Mar 10 RobsonWark: may I suggest some positive pills!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 13:32 - Mar 10 I actually thought we played some quite good stuff at times, particularly in the second half, although I do admit we lack a cutting edge. We were playing a team that has won most of its away games and drawn most of the others, so I can understand the rather cautious approach 2nd half to some extent. It would have been easy to get caught on the break. Both teams cancelled each other out. I am confident PC knows where he wants to go with the team, and I just hope he gets the resources to do so. But I don't think either team deserved to win, or to lose, and the fact that Lincoln "sat back" was partly due to the fact that we didn't let them come forward all that much. Much better display than against G'ham, and against a better team.

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StavangerBlue added 13:39 - Mar 10 Guys, it is not the manager or any manager. It is the club. It is the players who hide, have no desire to win and drift through games. It's the owner who doesn't invest in the squad. It's the academy that doesn't produce the talent - Dozzell will be 50 before he's as good as he thinks he is - one pass does not make a game. Give Cook a chance. Right now he's thinking "*@&%$ what have I taken on!".

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londontractorboy57 added 14:22 - Mar 10 StavangerBlue Correct i did try to warn him
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EricGatesShinpad added 14:29 - Mar 10 Just seen the match highlights...... does our right back play in slow motion? He backs off too much and then the winger ghosts past him as if no one is there. A clear weakness for the team. I wonder how many goals against us have come down our right this season? I have no dramas over Chambers loyalty and devotion to the club but perhaps now is the time to call it a day.....?

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gosblue added 15:31 - Mar 10 It's all too slow. At one point I thought Chambers was going to get booked for time wasting over a throw-in. Then I remembered we were a goal down at the time. Kenlock is even slower over throw-ins. I think he got booked recently. There doesn't appear to be any movement off the ball. I don't think Cook will stand for it for too long. It was a good point but there is a lot of work to do before we can be considered genuine contenders.

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timkatieadamitfc added 16:00 - Mar 10 Robsonwark been marked down unfairly IMO, if Lambert was still in charge think everyone would agree with him, I'm right behind PC and believe he's absolutely the best we could have got for where we are. But it doesn't detract from the fact that we played poorly and never really looked like scoring, even then it was one defender to another defender from a set piece. Better is needed Saturday and going forward as there are at least 3 teams ( sun pet hull) who are playing better than us. Also the few who are still saying we are still going to get top 2 because of our run in - STOP NOW ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, this team is nowhere near good enough to win all of remaining games which is what it pretty much take unfortunately

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therein61 added 16:54 - Mar 10 Spiritofsirjohn, after that hospital ball judge gave him poor toto must have thought Skuse was playing he's given passes like that ever since he's been here.
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