Lincoln City are hoping for a repeat of last week’s convincing win over Hereford United in this Saturday’s FA Cup clash at Edgar Street.
A victory would ensure that the Imps progress into the Cup’s third round and could earn them a fairytale tie with one of the Premier League’s big guns.
Boss Steve Tilson says that the League Two win over the Bulls will help his side’s confidence in what could be a potential banana skin.
He said: “We go there [to Hereford] on an even keel. I think they’ve got one or two players who are out and hopefully that’ll be to our advantage.
“It’s a game that we can certainly go into with confidence because we’ve beaten them the previous week. It would be nice to be in the third round, but there’s a lot of hard work to be done.”
Tilson is keen to see his side produce a good performance after they were blown away by promotion-chasing Bury on Tuesday.
Bury raced to a 5-0 win at Sincil Bank, but the Imps manager was philosophical in defeat.
He said: “I think the players were disappointed with the way they performed on Tuesday night after the standards they’ve set in the last four weeks.
“It gives them a chance on Saturday to rectify that and obviously put in a performance similar to the ones they’ve put in over the last three or four weeks. I’ve got no complaints that they [Bury] were the better side on the night.”
The former Southend coach will have to contend without Grenada international striker Delroy Facey as he links up with his national team, whilst Josh Gowling could make his final appearance for the Imps after Gillingham confirmed that his loan will not be extended.
Meanwhile, the Imps have kept the services of loan stars Gavin Hoyte, Ashley Grimes and the injured Luke Howell, who all extended their deals until the end of January. Long-term absentee, Paul Green, is expected to train again next week.
Hereford’s resurgence in League Two was halted by the Imps on Saturday and they now find themselves propping up the league after a 4-0 away defeat to Shrewsbury on Tuesday night.
They will have to do without defender Ryan Green after his sending off in that defeat, whilst former Crewe midfielder Kenny Lunt is a doubt.