Tilson : "We could have been 5-0 down at half time"

Lincoln City manager Steve Tilson admitted that the Imps should have been 5-0 down at half time in the away defeat at Barnet on Saturday. It was the first time the Imps have lost away from home on a Saturday since Steve Tilson took over as manager way back in October and leaves City looking over their shoulders again.

City found themselves 3-0 down at Barnet in the first half, a first half where Barnet also hit the bar and post. City came out for the second half looking very different and scored twice in the opening five minutes through Howell and Grimes, it was the latter who had the perfect opportunity to make it 3-3 but his penalty was saved. Barnet eventually made it safe with McLeod scoring against the Imps for the third game in a row.

It was another in a long line of games where City have conceded a goal in the first ten minutes and Tilson made no excuses as he admitted the Imps deserved to be at least 5-0 down at half time.

"The first 45 minutes was a shambles, if I'm honest, we weren't at the races." Steve Tilson told BBC Radio Lincolnshire. "We needed to get a decent start but got totally the opposite and it could have been 5-0 at half-time. At half-time, I said to the players: 'go and play with a bit of pride'. We did that and it might have been a different game if we'd scored the penalty but it was too easy for them to score goals today. Our support was fantastic, but I feel for them having to watch that first 45 minutes. It was a horror show and it was nowhere near good enough."

The Imps now go into the next fixture hoping for a first Tuesday night victory at Sincil Bank since February last year. City have suffered defeats of 5-0 and 5-1 in their last two evening games at Sincil Bank, and promotion chasing Oxford won't be easy opponents.