Chris Cohen has spoken candidly about the relentless demands of second-tier football as Lincoln City prepare to make the trip to The Den to face Millwall on Saturday, with a 12:30 kick-off giving the Imps precious little time to recover from Wednesday's heavy defeat.

No time to feel sorry for yourself

The 39-year-old, who shares the head coach role at Sincil Bank with Tom Shaw, acknowledged that the 6-0 loss to West Ham earlier in the week had been a difficult one to absorb, but said the nature of the Championship simply does not allow for prolonged soul-searching.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lincolnshire, Cohen described the visit to Millwall as another of the "incredibly hard" challenges that Lincoln have been getting used to since winning promotion back to the second tier after a 65-year absence from that level of English football. The Imps are, by any measure, operating in unfamiliar territory, and Cohen's language reflected that: this is a group of players and staff finding their feet against clubs with considerably greater resources and experience at this level.

The co-management arrangement with Shaw is itself something of a novelty in the Championship, and the pair have made no secret of the steep learning curve involved. Each fixture in this division brings a different set of problems, and a Saturday lunchtime away day at The Den, one of English football's more intimidating venues, is precisely the kind of assignment that tests a newly promoted side's character.

Understanding the gap

Lincoln's return to the Championship is significant for the city and for the club's supporters, many of whom had never seen the Imps compete at this level. The 65-year gap between top-flight and second-tier appearances is not a figure to gloss over: it represents the better part of three generations of fans for whom this season is entirely new territory.

That context matters when assessing results. A 6-0 defeat, however painful, lands differently when you consider the scale of the gulf in resources between a club of Lincoln's size and the well-resourced squads that populate much of the Championship. Cohen has consistently framed the season in those terms, speaking about the division's demands with what appears to be genuine respect rather than the sort of press-release optimism that tends to paper over difficulties.

For his part, Cohen called Wednesday's scoreline harsher than the performance deserved, a view he had already aired in the immediate aftermath of the match. Whether that assessment holds up on closer inspection is debatable, but there is little doubting his intention to keep the dressing room level-headed regardless of the scoreboard.

What Millwall represents

Millwall are no soft touch in the Championship. Their ground, The Den in south London, has a well-established reputation as one of the division's harder away trips in terms of atmosphere and intensity. An early kick-off on Saturday adds another layer of logistical pressure for a Lincoln side that will have had roughly 48 hours to prepare after their midweek fixture.

Cohen's public message heading into the game appears to be one of pragmatic acceptance: the Championship is hard, the fixtures keep coming, and the job is to remain competitive and organised regardless of what the previous result looked like. For a club returning to the second tier after such a lengthy absence, simply competing week to week represents a kind of progress in itself.

Whether Lincoln can take anything from The Den on Saturday remains to be seen, but Cohen's tone suggested a head coach trying to build resilience rather than chase a result that may be beyond his squad's current means. The full interview is available on BBC Sounds for supporters who want to hear his assessment in his own words.

Frequently asked

When is Lincoln City's next Championship match?
Lincoln City travel to Millwall on Saturday for a 12:30 kick-off at The Den.
Who is Lincoln City's head coach?
Lincoln City share the head coach role between Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw.
How long was Lincoln City out of the Championship before this season?
Lincoln City were absent from the second tier for 65 years before winning promotion back to the Championship.