Garry Monk was left frustrated after Cambridge United’s winless run continued with a 2-0 defeat at home to Lincoln City, calling out his players’ lack of “character” and “personality.”
Lincoln secured a comfortable victory at the Cledara Abbey Stadium, with substitute Freddie Draper and Bailey Cadamarteri finding the net in each half. The loss leaves Cambridge United without a win in 10 matches this season, a streak that stretches back to April of the previous campaign. Despite moments of promise, Monk’s men once again fell short, as their early-season woes deepened.
Cambridge’s afternoon got off to a challenging start when Lincoln substitute Draper entered the game after just one minute following an injury to Ben House. Draper made an instant impact, giving Lincoln the lead in the 26th minute. Jack Moylan’s pass found Tendayi Darikwa on the right, whose low cross was met by Draper to fire home.
Lincoln could have wrapped up the match before halftime if not for the efforts of Cambridge goalkeeper Vicente Reyes. He was called into action to deny Jovon Makama’s powerful effort while the game was still goalless, and later made another big stop just before the break when Draper set up Makama again, forcing Reyes to stand tall.
Lincoln sealed the win with their second goal 22 minutes from time. A long ball from Adam Jackson out of defence found Cadamarteri, who controlled it on his chest before unleashing a well-placed shot past Reyes to secure all three points. Cambridge never found a way back into the match, struggling to create clear chances as their winless run stretched on.
After the game, Monk spoke to Cambridge Independent candidly about his team’s struggles, pointing to the lack of fight and character that has been evident in recent performances. “When you’ve got adversity and you’re in a situation like this where you’re not winning games, you need really strong character and personality to come out the other side of it and give yourself a building block,” Monk explained.
He continued, “We’ve taken a lot of adversity but I didn’t see enough of that personality today. That’s probably the furthest we’ve been away in all the games, especially in that second half.”
Monk acknowledged the difficulty of the situation but reiterated the importance of resilience: “I’ve been in the game long enough – your duty is to work hard and take what’s coming at you. You’re either going to fight or take flight. My mentality has always been to fight and try to put that across to the players.”
Monk also commented on the drop in confidence that he’s seen within his squad but was clear that fighting is the only way forward: “I think they are fighting but confidence is a little bit lower than it should be. There’s only one way out of it, and that’s showing character. We’ve done that in a lot of games, but this one was too far away from that.”
He concluded, “The only option is to fight – that’s my mentality. I’ll always fight as hard as I can, and I expect my players to do that as well.”
United now find themselves anchored at the bottom of League One with just a single point from seven matches, and the pressure is mounting ahead of Tuesday’s game against Rotherham.
Site Opinion
Cambridge United’s struggles continue, and it’s clear that Monk is feeling the pressure as the team’s winless streak stretches on. The lack of character and fight in key moments, as he pointed out, is becoming a recurring issue. While they have shown flashes of potential, it’s not translating into results, and confidence is clearly low. Monk’s challenge now is to reinvigorate a squad that seems to be short on belief and running out of ideas.
The upcoming match against Rotherham is crucial for Cambridge, not just in terms of points but to restore some confidence and faith in the squad. Monk will need to find the right balance between tough love and encouragement to get his players back on track. If they don’t turn things around soon, it could be a long and difficult season ahead for the U’s.
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