Pirelli Stadium (K.O 7:45 pm)
Referee: Graham Horwood
The Imps are looking to drag themselves further away from the League Two relegation zone on Wednesday night, with a win at Burton Albion. Chris Sutton’s men have been in impressive form with three consecutive wins against Chesterfield, Barnet and Bradford City respectively seeing the Imps climb the League Two table.
Saturday’s 2-1 home win against Bradford saw the Imps move move nine points above the relegation zone and sit 19th, five points and one game in hand behind City’s opponents tonight.
Although the Imps are moving in the right direction thanks to three consecutive victories, Lincoln manager Chris Sutton is not taking anything for granted.
“I’m pleased with the run we’re on in the league. On balance we’ve probably deserved to win the games. I said a few weeks ago we have been improving and posing more of a threat. We’ve got a big run of games coming up and we know it’s going to be difficult.”
Burton Albion, nicknamed the Brewers, are enjoying a successful first spell in the Football League having been promoted last season from the Blue Square Premier. The Brewers managed by former Derby and Sheffield United player Paul Peschisolido currently sit mid-table and fought back from been 2-0 down at half time to win 3-2 against Torquay United last Saturday. In the reverse fixture at Sincil Bank in August, Burton ran out comfortable 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Russell Penn and Ryan Austin. Imps chief Chris Sutton knows tonights encounter is not going to be easy.
“It’s going to be a very tough game for us. They’ve been doing well in the league but we can go there full of confidence. We don’t want to take a backward step at the moment and I think the players are looking forward to the game. We don’t want to think that we’ve cracked it yet and we’ll be drilling that into the players. It’s good for them that they feel now that they’re getting somewhere and can win football matches. The players that I’ve got here won’t be complacent.”
Sutton will be sweating on the fitness of four key players for tonight’s encounter against the Brewers. Midfielders Chris Herd and Brian Gilmour picked up knocks and were substituted against Bradford on Saturday whilst defenders Nathan Baker and Paul Green will be given time to prove their fitness.
Burton Albion will be able to recall goalkeeper Artur Krysiak and experienced defender Guy Branston after they missed the Brewers 3-2 win against Torquay United at the weekend due to suspension. Strikers Greg Pearson and Steve Kabba also return after recovering from injuries. However club captain Darren Stride is likely to miss out following the reoccurence of a groin strain in training.