Lincoln and Charlton managers agree weather made it tough in draw

Both managers admitted the weather played a huge part in a dour League One 0-0 stalemate between Lincoln and Charlton.

There were barely any shots at goal as both sides struggled to find any cohesion amidst the swirling gale that engulfed the LNER Stadium, with the respective bosses left feeling satisfied with a share of the spoils.

“It was a pleasing point,” admitted Imps chief Michael Skubala. “To a man we were fantastic, but we didn’t quite get the big moments we nearly always get, it just didn’t drop for us.

“It was really difficult for both teams. The wind is the hardest thing to play in, as the ball’s just swirling around all over the place and that affected the game a lot.

“The challenge we set ourselves was to keep a clean sheet and I thought in those conditions, our back three were excellent.

“We had to be solid, but I thought a point was probably fair, although if either side were going to win it, I thought it would be us. It felt more like ourselves. It was us who were pushing at the end to win the game.

“They are a physical team, they put it on you, they’re a really direct team and hard to play against, but we stuck to the task well.”

Only Jack Moylan really tested the goalkeeper for the Imps, with Ashley Maynard-Brewer called upon to save his first-half effort, while Tyrese Campbell, Karoy Anderson and Greg Docherty all shot wide for the visitors before the break, with sub Allan Campbell poking Campbell’s cross narrowly off target in the second half.

“The conditions were a disgrace and it was never going to be a spectacle,” said Charlton manager Nathan Jones, who was at least pleased to see his side bounce back from a midweek home defeat to Crawley.

“The positives to come out of it were a clean sheet and that we limited them to very little – counter-attacks in the first half, that’s all it was. It was a magnificent effort from everyone.

“We were far better in possession today in terms of how we moved the football and we made better choices.

“If it hadn’t been for the conditions then we could have been a lot more fluent. I don’t think anyone realised how bad the conditions were out there on the pitch. In the second half it was blowing a gale directly against us.

“I thought we were brave, took the sting out of the game and had the best of the situations. We tried to play, move the ball quickly and we did that really well in the first half.

“I am not particularly pleased with a point, we want to win every game, but sometimes you have to take the positives out of it.”