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They say that the league is a marathon and not a sprint, however our beloved Bluebirds appear to have suddenly hit (almost) top gear having notched 5 wins (yep, 5 – count ‘em) on the bounce to become the form team of the division (ok, Bolton are unbeaten over the last 6 but we have collected more points), quite some going and hopefully there’s no sign of the brakes going on just yet!
After our thrilling late, late win against Doncaster last weekend, and of course our good showing against the ‘World Champions’ on Tuesday, this weekend sees us travel north (yet again) to a ground we’ve not been to in over 20 years, Sincil Bank (a.k.a the LNER Stadium) the home of Lincoln City FC.
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Who Are You?
The "Imps" (nicknamed after the legend of the Lincoln Imp, a grotesque on a wall inside Lincoln Cathedral, thought to have been made between 1250-1280 when the Angel Choir part of the Cathedral was built) were founded in 1884 and have played at the 10,669-capacity Sincil Bank since their move from John O'Gaunts in 1895.
They were founder members of both the Football League Second Division and also the Third Division North. Since those early days the Imps have played the majority of their football in the lower 2 Divisions of the Football League but were also the first side to suffer automatic relegation from the league pyramid in the 1986-87 season.
A series of promotions and relegations has followed since, including another stint in non-league until a promotion under the stewardship of Danny Cowley in the 2016-17 season. Lincoln’s best ever placing was 5th in the Second Division in 1902.
The team is now managed by relative novice Michael Skubala, a former director of football at Loughborough University who was headhunted by the English FA where he became coach of the English National Futsal Team. He went on to work with the U-18’s before becoming head coach of Leeds Utd’s U-21’s. A short stint as caretaker ensued after Jesse Marsch was sacked. Skubala took on the Lincoln role in November 2023.
There aren’t too many recognisable names in the Imps’ line up, though joint top scorer (with 4 from 18 games) James Collins is all too familiar. The Irishman joined Lincoln in January 2025 and has managed 16 goals in 45 games in all competitions for the Lincolnshire side.
He is joined in the scoring charts by Reeco Hackett-Fairchild, a Saint Lucian international who has been with the Imps since 2023. His 4 goals have come in 16 appearances.
In defence they have the experienced Adam Reach (ex-Middlesbrough, Sheff Weds & WBA) and Sonny Bradley (former Derby & Luton player), whilst in goals George Wickens is their regular glove man (ex-Wealdstone). Reach is their top assist maker (3) closely followed by captain Tendayi Darikwa, a Zimbabwe International defender who counts Forest, Wigan & Apollon Limassol amongst his former clubs.
Former ex-Sky Blue Tom Bayliss patrols the midfield along with Freddie Draper (who’s come through the youth ranks).
First And Last
Our first encounter with the Imps was back in November 1948 in a 2nd Division match at Sincil Bank that saw the spoils equally shared in a 0-0 draw in front of 14,438 fans.
That 1948-49 season saw the Bluebirds finish 5th overall with the goals that season being spread around, seeing our top scorer in the league, Ernie Stevenson notch just 12 times (13 in total inc. cups).
A short 2 year spell at Cardiff would see Stevenson start well but once his goals dried up he was moved on to Southampton, however his 15 goals in 50 appearances for the Bluebirds would be the most productive of his career.
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Ernie Stevenson - no relation to Stevenson's Rocket sadly for the Bluebirds
Last time out saw a rare setback for the Bluebirds, going down 2-0 at Sincil Bank in a League Division 3 game in March 2001 in front of 4,451 fans.
That 2000-01 season was our first under the ownership of Sam Hammam, during which we saw ‘investment’ in the team come flowing in for the first time in a long time, with the money spent being a key factor in helping the City achieve promotion at the first time of asking back to the 3rd tier.
The Bluebirds started the season in fine form, remaining undefeated until the 10th game in when a 2-0 reverse at Hull saw us slip to defeat for the first time.
We’d go on to finish 2nd behind Champions Brighton. Top scorer was of course Rob Earnshaw with 19 league goals (25 overall).
Looking at the team sheet that day, it’s almost like a forerunner for the current crop with no less than 7 Welsh players starting for us that day, quite some feat!
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Form
The Imps are in fine form in recent weeks, rising to 3rd in the division following a 3 game unbeaten streak (2 wins, 1 draw) and 10 points out of the last 18 overall, with those 2 wins coming against Barnsley at home (3-1) and Port Vale at home (1-0) with their last result being a 2-2 draw away at Blackpool (no mean feat given our recent encounter up there).
Overall Lincoln have the joint 5th best attack (joint with Bradford) having scored 28 goals in 20 games. Taking just their home form, they rise a spot to 4th having scored a decent 18 in 10 at the LNER.
Defensively they are also pretty solid, shipping just 21 times in 20 games, making them joint 7th. Again, taking just their home form they stand joint 6th, conceding a measly 9 times in those 10 games.
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On The Pitch
So, I guess the big question is, will any of our cup team have managed to play their way into the starting 11 for Saturday?
I think we can be fairly confident that Callum Robinson will be deemed not to have shown enough to dislodge the league’s leading marksman following his fairly quiet run out v Chelsea.
Whilst Isaac Davies looked effective in mid-week, personally I think we looked more controlled and dangerous once Chris Willock came on.
Then of course we have our goal hero from Tuesday night, just how much of a confidence booster will Davie Turnbull have got from his exquisitely timed header, and to be fair, excellent 2nd half showing?
Predicted Starting 11
Trott
Bagan
Lawlor
Fish
Ng
Turnbull
Wintle
Willock
Kellyman
Ashford
Salech
The Odds
It seems our recent run isn’t enough to convince the bookies that we should edge this one against a tough opponent. To be fair I think given their home record of just 1 defeat (a narrow 1-0 loss to Exeter) then that’s to be expected, but only a crazy fool would bet against our high flying Bluebirds right now eh?
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C’mon The City!!!!
