Michael Skubala insists that his Lincoln side must pick themselves up quickly as they prepare to take on Wanderers.

The Imps suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat at Shrewsbury on Boxing Day, with Morgan Feeney getting the decisive goal.

Lincoln have now won one of their last nine matches in the league and sit ninth in the table – above Bolton on goal difference, having played two extra games.

“Huge game, a tough game, no doubt about it,” Skubala told the club channels. “They will be wanting to win as well so we have to patch ourselves up.

“This is the Christmas period, where games come thick and fast. You have to be on it and ready, physically and mentally, to perform.

“This is the challenge of being a footballer at any level – how you go again and pick yourselves up.”

The Imps dominated possession against Salop but couldn’t find a breakthrough, with Dom Jefferies and Bailey Cadamarteri both going close.

“We knew coming here that the game would be slow and they would make it really clunky,” the manager added.

“We didn’t manage that very well at all, we didn’t do enough of those basics to get us a result.

“If you start a game like that - slow, sloppy and not well enough - they get a 1-0 lead and something to hold on to. We didn’t get close enough to them.

“I don’t know if it’s because of Christmas or anything like that, but we just didn’t look at it especially in the first half. When they get a 1-0 lead, they sit behind the ball and it’s hard to break down.

“Even in those moments, you have to move the ball quick and have a bit of zip to break things down and get into pockets.

“We have to be better as a team in the basics and I thought today that it was a really big opportunity missed.”

Jefferies was forced off with an injury in the second half and is now a doubt for the trip to the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

“We will assess that and see how he is. It is a bit of a knock,” Skubala explained. “He has come back in and was trying to get back into the team, so he will be disappointed with that.

“He was hobbling around. There are a few other things and knocks so we have to see how we are, patch ourselves up and go again.”