Lincoln City return to the LNER Stadium for a third home time in seven days, facing Notts County in a make or break EFL Trophy match.
It’s the last game in a tight group, with any of the four teams being able to either go through or be knocked out. Simply, a Lincoln win secures a place in the knockout stages, unless Wolverhampton Wanderers U21’s upset Derby County by a significant margin.
The Imps can still advance in the newly-christened Bristol Street Motors Trophy with a defeat, but would be reliant on the other result going their way.
Interim head coach Tom Shaw started his tenure with a three game unbeaten run, but failure to beat Notts County would mean City followed that up with a three game winless run. This game comes of the back of the Imps crashing out of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday, losing to League Two opposition in Morecambe.
Opposition: Notts County
The SkyBet League Two outfit sit bottom of the group heading into the final game, having lost to both Wolves U21’s and Derby so far.
In the league, Luke Williams’ men are faring much better. They currently sit second in have picked up 30 points from their opening 16 games.
However, their recent form has been patchy. A 3-2 Emirates FA Cup win over Crawley Town on Saturday meant the Magpies had won three and lost two of the last five games.
Team News:
Lincoln’s injury list remains lengthy. Reeco Hackett, Ben House and Lewis Monstma are still sidelined, while forward Tyler Walker is back in training.
Tom Shaw was also without Ted Bishop and Sean Roughan for the FA Cup loss to Morecambe on Saturday, as the Imps’ injury concerns continue to mount.
Jordan Wright has started the first two games of the EFL Trophy group stage to date, so could be expected to return between the sticks on Tuesday night.
As for the visitors, Matt Palmer is set to miss the remainder of the season after he picked up a knee injury against Wrexham at the back-end of October.
The dangerous duo of Macaulay Langstaff and David McGoldrick both got on the scoresheet on Saturday and could pose a threat to the Imps defence.
Played for (or managed) Both:
Paul Mayo is one of the men who has played for both. The defender came through the Lincoln City youth system and made 163 appearances across two spells. He left the Imps for a second time in 2007, when he went on to Notts County. Over the course of two years he made 41 appearances for the Magpies.
Plenty of players have featured for both teams over the years. The likes of Bernard Towler (in the 1930s) and Alan Withers (in the 1950s and ’60s) played for both, before Gavin Gordon and Jorge Grant in more recent times.
The recently passed Lincoln legend Colin Murphy also managed Notts County during his career. He took charge in Nottingham between 1995 and 1996, a few years after his two famed spells in Lincolnshire.
Head-to-Head:
The two sides bet in the EFL Cup early this season. Lincoln City came away from Meadow Lane with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Sean Roughan and Lasse Sorensen. In 2017, they met in the EFL Trophy, then the Checkatrade Trophy, with the Imps coming away 2-1 winners.
Tom Shaw’s side would be hoping for a similar result on November 7th.
In their last five meetings, Lincoln haven’t tasted defeat, winning three and drawing the other two. However, Notts County have had the better of their overall history, dating back to 1893. The Magpies have won 35 games against the Imps, with City winning 18 and drawing 18.
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