Lincoln City travel to Vale Park on Saturday, as they face a Port Vale side who have not won since the turn of the year.
Michael Skubala will be hoping that his side can carry on their unbeaten form and continue their winning ways from the previous weekend against Exeter City.
A Joe Taylor goal was enough to see the Imps pick up another three points, making it seven games without defeat for the travelling Exeter.
Lincoln are looking towards a late playoff push, which would be helped by another three points on Saturday afternoon.
Opposition: Port Vale
The Valiants sit in 22nd place in the Sky Bet League One table, not picking up a win since the turn of the year.
The hosts last win came in a 3-0 win at home to Blackpool in the last game of December 2023.
The hosts will hope that top scorer Ben Garrity will be fully fit for the weekend, playing 17 minutes in their 2-0 loss away to Reading during the week. The Valiants will also hope that Ethan Chislett, who has 13 goal contribution in the league this season, will find his form again.
Former West Bromwich Albion, Doncaster Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town boss Darren Moore has lost both of his first two games in charge of Vale, with his new club in the midst of a relegation struggle.
Team News:
The Imps are hopeful to have Reeco Hackett available for the game, Michael Skubala confirmed in the pre-match press conference.
Freddie Draper is out of contention, with Skubala stating that he is ten to 14 days away from returning to full fitness.
Adam Jackson will be out for another week following his broken nose. Skubala said: “He is in a mask back in training, but we think that [Saturday] is probably a bit too early for him.”
Ethan Hamilton is also a doubt. “We are not sure with Ethan [Hamilton] at the moment with what is going on with him. We are just waiting for him to see a specialist,” the Imps head coach said.
Head-to-Head:
The two sides have faced each other 91 times, with the first game dating back to October 1892, which saw Port Vale run out 4-3 winners.
However, the Imps have the slight upper-hand, winning 34 of the 91 meetings, whilst Port Vale have won 33. The other 24 ending in a draw.
The previous meeting this season was a 1-1 draw at the LNER Stadium, with both sides picking up a red card early in the second half.
Featured for both:
Midfielder John Schofield made 231 appearances for Lincoln between 1988-1994, before returning to the club in the 2000-2001 season for 19 appearances. Schofield would also manage the Imps in 2006-2007. More recently, he joined The Valiants’ coaching staff in April last year, to which he left the role earlier this month.
Jamaican striker, Theo Robinson, played for both clubs during his on-going career. He first featured for Port Vale in 2016, before returning in 2020-2021, scoring eight goals in 51 games. He would join Lincoln on loan from 2016-2017 for 19 games, most notably scoring five goals in the Imps’ memorable FA cup run as a non-league side.
Irish forward Olamide Shodipo, who came through at QPR, was loaned out to Port Vale in January 2017 where he only played six games. Shodipo would later make 29 appearances for Lincoln City, scoring three goals.