Lincoln City will be looking for their first three points under Steve Tilson, as the Imps take on fellow strugglers Northampton Town at Sincil Bank on Tuesday night.
Tilson’s side go into the game on the back of an impressive 2-2 draw with promotion-chasing Wycombe Wanderers at the weekend.
It was a result which pleased the Lincoln boss: “It was a good performance, especially in the second half. We looked the stronger side and we looked more likely to win. I think we’d have taken a point at the start of the game, so it’s certainly something to build on.”
The match saw the Imps hit the back of the net for only the eighth and ninth times in the league this season and, judging on their performance over the 90 minutes, Tilson couldn’t understand why his side have scored so few goals:
“We scored two good goals on Saturday, and we maybe could’ve had one or two more. Playing 4-4-2 with two out-and-out wide players is quite adventurous, so I’m surprised up until then we’d only scored seven goals in 13 games.”
Tonight’s visitors Northampton Town have had what can only be described as a ‘mixed bag’ of a season so far. In the seven league games since that now infamous win against Liverpool in the Carling Cup, the Cobblers have been on a dire run consisting of five losses in a row, sandwiched in between wins against Bradford and Gillingham.
Tilson believes the Imps’ opponents shouldn’t be taken lightly: “They’re a very good footballing side and another side that I’m very surprised they’re down where they are. They got a good three points on Saturday beating Gillingham, and it’ll be another tough test for us.”
Long-term absentee Paul Green is Lincoln’s only injury concern ahead of the game, giving Tilson the pleasure of choosing from an almost fully fit Imps squad once again.
Striker Delroy Facey, who has been away on international duty with Grenada for nearly three weeks, is also back in contention for Lincoln.
Facey managed to bag two goals in three games for his country, in stage two of qualifying for the Caribbean Championship, and Tilson was positive his return will only add to the Imps’ goal-scoring threat: “I’ve seen Delroy play on many occasions, so I know what he’s all about, and obviously it’s nice to have another striker available. He’s come back looking fit and Scott [Lindsey, First Team Coach] reckons he’s lost a bit of weight as well, so if he has that’s a benefit to us.”
Two of Steve Tilson’s four new loan signings— Luke Howell and Gavin Hoyte— are expected to retain their starting places after impressive debuts against Wycombe at the weekend, whilst the other two loanees – Ashley Grimes and Josh Gowling – will be hoping to be involved in some capacity, as the Imps look to climb up the League Two table with a valuable three points.
The Linc prediction: Imps 2 Northampton 0