Chris Sutton takes his Lincoln City side to Lancashire on Friday night to face Accrington Stanley (kick off 7:45pm), buoyed by the news that pacey frontman Gavin McCallum could return to the squad.
Canadian international McCallum has missed the last five City games due to injury, but played a half for the reserve team in midweek and will be in contention for the game against Stanley.
McCallum will be hoping to help the Imps edge their way further up the League Two table. City gained their second win of the season last weekend against Barnet at Sincil Bank, thanks to a goal from Ben Hutchinson and a string of outstanding saves by goalkeeper Joe Anyon.
That 1-0 win lifted the Imps up to 15th position in League Two, a division which is still yet to settle with only six games of the season played so far.
Ian Pearce is expected to miss his second consecutive fixture with the former Fulham centre back suffering from an injury to his ankle. Youth system product Andy Hutchinson is the only other Lincoln player who will miss the game and he is set for a prolonged period on the sidelines as he nurses a broken foot.
Speaking after City’s victory over the Bees last weekend, full back Joe Anderson claimed that the players felt that Lincoln now had a run of games they were capable of picking up points from.
Accrington are the first in that run of opponents, but Stanley, who are in their fifth season back in the Football League, could prove to be stern opposition for Sutton’s side. John Coleman’s men have conceded just once in their six games so far this campaign and sit in 10th place — yet to be defeated.
However, Accy have had problems at the other end after failing to score in four of those matches. Striker Craig Lindfield has been struggling with a knee problem, meaning Rory Boulding and Terry Gornell are likely to partner each other up front. Between them, the young duo have just eight league goals to their names.
The Linc prediction: Accrington 1 Imps 0