Comments of Lincoln boss proves Burnley had no choice but to axe Nicky Hayen

Lincoln City joint-boss Tom Shaw felt Burnley were “there for the taking” ahead of his side’s comfortable victory - which proved to be the final straw for Nicky Hayen.

The Imps came from behind to record a 4-1 victory, to win at Sincil Bank for the first time in the Championship this season.

The home side took full advantage of Burnley’s woes, with the defeat spelling the end for Hayen who was sacked shortly afterwards.

Heading into the game off the back of just one win in 11 games, Shaw felt there was a big opportunity for his side to take advantage of the Clarets’ strife.

“Very proud,” he said.

“We've spoken a few times about how privileged we feel, myself and Chris [Cohen], to lead the football side of this amazing club.

“I just feel we owe the supporters for how they were at West Ham in that last 20 minutes. I think that will live long in the memory, how the fans got the boys and us through that tough experience.

“We spoke about an opportunity today, with Burnley not being in an amazing place and we still knew they'd be a dangerous opponent.

“But we just thought if we could get to our levels in certain parts of our game plan and our way of playing, we could be a little bit too much and I thought that came out.

“So to have that moment of full time with the supporters was amazing, but I thought the players were fantastic today.”

Shaw was especially pleased with how his Lincoln side came from behind to register their one-sided win.

“It was a tough moment [conceding], especially from a set piece, which we normally do so well on,” he added.

“It was going to be interesting to see how we responded as a group. But there was no real drama. We went straight up the other end and we knew our long throw would cause some carnage.

“We put the weather forecast up on the screen on Thursday morning just to prepare the lads and say how that could be interesting with our set pieces.

“We went in at half-time and there was a bit of relief, I think, from the lads. We were still well in the game, but we were probably a little bit more front foot with the players than we have been so far.

“Where we felt from the dugout that they were there for the taking if we get going and the lads were physically super strong.

“We moved the ball really well and carried a big threat in the second half. That second-half performance is what we want to be as a football team. I thought in every facet of the game we were superior, so I was delighted.

“Some of the individual performances were incredible today, but as a collective, we smothered our opponent.

“We carried a threat. We kept the back doors shut for the majority of the second half, so it was a big performance and we got away from Burnley.”