Lincoln City travel to the West Midlands to face top of the table Birmingham City, looking for an unlikely win.
Michael Skubala’s men visit St. Andrews Stadium on a high after coming back from behind to beat Crawley Town, 4-1. James Collins, Jovon Makama, Dom Jeffries and Nottingham Forest loanee Joe Gardner all got their names on the scoresheet.
The Imps have taken six points from a possible 15 and are currently 12th place in Sky Bet League One, bouncing back from a poor run to win in midweek.
Lincoln head into the game 12 points adrift of Huddersfield Town in sixth place, which is the lowest play-off position.
Opposition: Birmingham City
The Blues are currently top of the league on 76 points under manager Chris Davies, and a win could take them 12 points clear of second place Wycombe Wanderers.
They went 18 games unbeaten before losing to Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night, taking ten points from their last five games despite only scoring six goals in that time. Birmingham have kept 17 clean sheets in the League One, which is the most in the league.
Club record signing Jay Stansfield is joint top goalscorer in the league, netting on 16 occasions already this season.
Team News:
Skipper Paudie O’Connor will make a return for the away side at the end of his two-match suspension, this was confirmed by Imps head coach Michael Skubala. He also noted that the Irishman was on his way back from a knock.
Lewis Montsma will also be fully fit for Saturday’s game, giving Skubala a decision to make about who he starts at centre-half, as he continues to play once a week.
Tom Hamer played a full 90 minutes against Crawley town, and the Lincoln boss said: “I thought he was fantastic, but whether he can go again we need to be careful.”
Head-to-Head:
The reverse fixture at the LNER Stadium saw Bailey Cadamarteri’s first minute opener cancelled out by three Birmingham goals courtesy of a Keshi Anderson brace and a Willum Willumsson strike from outside of the box. That came before an FA Cup victory for the former Premier League side in January.
Birmingham City are unbeaten in 19 games in all competitions against Lincoln, with the Imps last beating the Blues in 1911.
Overall, since 1892, the two sides have faced each other 39 times with Birmingham winning 27 times and Lincoln just four. There have been eight draws in the history of this matchup.
Played for both:
Current Birmingham goalkeeper Ryan Allsop has made 27 appearances for the club since joining in June 2024, keeping an impressive 16 clean sheets in this time.
He played for Lincoln City 20 times after joining in January, 2018, keeping six clean sheets before departing the club for Wycombe Wanderers that very summer.
The 32-year-old has featured for a grand total of 14 different clubs throughout his career so far, including the likes of AFC Bournemouth, West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City.