Michael Skubala praises ‘monster' defensive display as Lincoln beat Northampton
'We had to dig really deep,' said Skubala. 'It wasn't a pretty game at all. But we have a group of great characters and they saw it out brilliantly.
'I thought we started the game really well, we worked it well and scored a superb goal and there were a couple of other chances, but we just stopped playing a little bit and that played into their hands.
'It became a war of attrition in the second half but there were some magnificent performances at the back – I thought Sonny Bradley in particular was a monster.
'Northampton put it on us and landed on seconds but the defence is a proper unit who want to defend well and there's nothing better than a clean sheet.
'George Wickens made some fantastic saves in goal and in the end it's a brilliant win away from home.
'There are still things we can improve on and I'd like to see us play a bit more but it's a good job well done.'
Northampton remain winless this season but manager Kevin Nolan saw a lot to like from his side's performance.
'We haven't scored a goal but we should have,' he said.
'We need to be more ruthless. We gave them a few moments in the first half but the opportunities were there and I thought we were by far the better team throughout the game, especially in the second half.
'The lads grew in confidence but we just couldn't put the ball in the net and sometimes it's like that and at the moment we're going through one of those periods. We've just got to find a way.
'Lincoln stood up to it and made blocks so fair play to them and for all the good things we did, it doesn't matter if you don't put the ball in the net.
'Even if we scored and took a point, I'd still be frustrated that we hadn't won the game. I think everyone inside the ground knows we should have taken something but that's the cruelty of football.
'We've played some good teams but we've matched them all and now we need to take it that step further and make sure we punish teams when we have the opportunity.'
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