Lincoln City will look to put a rotten festive period behind them when they face Stevenage at the LNER Stadium on Saturday, January 4.
The Imps tasted victory against Reading in their final game before Christmas, then suffered three consecutive defeats against Shrewsbury Town, Bolton Wanderers and Rotherham United.
Opposition: Stevenage
Stevenage sit two places and one point below Lincoln in the League One table, but have two games in hand.
The Boro finished ninth last season, two places and three points behind City in seventh, and lost manager Steve Evans towards the end of the campaign.
Interim manager and former forward Alex Revell was given the job full-time in the summer.
His side have struggled to string together a run of wins in the first half of the season, only managing consecutive league wins on two occasions this season. The first came in September with wins over Charlton Athletic and Wrexham, then in December with two league wins against Northampton Town and Stockport County either side of a Vertu Trophy victory away at Burton Albion.
Team News:
Skipper Paudie O’Connor has been “patched up” and is ready to feature, as is winger Reeco Hackett, according to head coach Michael Skubala.
Illness still sidelines Erik Ring, but JJ McKiernan has recovered and trained on Friday.
Finally, Tyler Walker has suffered another setback in his recovery from a calf injury. Skubala confirmed Walker will be absent for a ten weeks. Walker may have played his last game for City, as his contract expires at the end of the campaign.
Head to Head:
This will be the eleventh meeting between these two sides. Lincoln City have won half of the ten games against Stevenage so far, drawing a further two.
The last three meetings, all in League One, have resulted in a win for either side and draw. City ran out 1-0 victors over Boro in their meeting at the Lamex Stadium earlier this season, thanks to a penalty from Jack Moylan.
Played for Both: Bruno Andrade
Bruno Andrade has had three separate stints at Stevenage. The first of the three was a three-month loan in October 2013. This was later extended by another month until February 2014, then Andrade returned to QPR.
He would join The Boro for a second time, again on loan from QPR, in February 2015 until the end of the 2014/15 season. He added 16 appearances and 1 goal to his Stevenage record.
Released by QPR in the summer of 2015, spells at Woking and Boreham Wood followed before the Português arrived at Sincil Bank ahead of the 2018/19 season on a free transfer.
Andrade was part of the League Two title winning squad that season, netting 10 times in the league. 17 games and a single League One goal later, Andrade dropped back to the fourth tier in January 2020 with Salford City.
Following a season and a half at the Peninsula Stadium, Andrade returned to Stevenage for the 2021/22 season. He was released at the end of that season, following a further 31 appearances.
Follow LincSport on X (formerly known as Twitter) for live coverage of Lincoln City vs Stevenage.