Lincoln City host managerless Rotherham United at Sincil Bank on Friday, March 25th, as they look to capitalise on the visitors’ poor form, despite having somewhat of an injury crisis themselves.
Less than a month ago, the Millers occupied third place in League Two, but a poor run of form which has seen them pick up just three points from their last five games, ultimately costing Miller, and his assistant Jimmy Mullen, their jobs earlier in the week.
The Imps meanwhile, who are already without captain Delroy Facey for the rest of the season, were given the news that Luke Howell would miss the next month with a recurrence of a hamstring injury, after lasting only 14 minutes in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Stevenage.
Both Ashley Grimes and stand-in captain Stephen Hunt also picked up ankle injures in that fixture, but the club are confident the pair will be fit to face Rotherham on Friday.
The Imps were dealt another blow this week after Sunderland boss Steve Bruce recalled goalkeeper Trevor Carson, leaving Steve Tilson’s side with just one senior goalkeeper ahead of the clash with the Millers, in the shape of 42-year-old goalkeeping coach Paul Musselwhite.
Carson, who joined the club on loan in January, has made 16 appearances for the Imps – with Tilson choosing Carson over previous first-choice ‘keeper Joe Anyon – a decision which caused Anyon to go and find first-team football elsewhere, and he joined Morecambe on loan in March.
It’s currently unclear as to whether the Imps can recall the 24-year-old former Port Vale stopper, but Tilson only has until 5pm on Thursday to find a replacement loanee in time for the Rotherham match.
Meanwhile, Tilson has attempted to combat his side’s lengthy injury list by signing Portsmouth midfielder Tom Kilbey on an emergency loan deal until the end of the season.
The head-to-head stats don’t read brilliantly for the Imps, with Rotherham taking maximum points from the two sides’ last seven league meetings. A 1-0 win in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in August last year and a 2-1 league defeat in the reverse fixture in this season’s opener ensure the Millers have a significant psychological advantage over Tilson’s men going into Friday’s match-up.
Kick-off at Sincil Bank is 7.45pm.