With a usually daunting Christmas period out of the way, can Lincoln City fans now dare to dream as they travel to Luton Town to pack out the Kenilworth Road away end?
With the side unbeaten in their last eight league games their promotion push is looking stronger than ever, but Michael Skubala is reserving judgement for the time being.
He spoke following a two-week break and said: “The lads are chomping at the bit to get going, the Christmas period is really tough, and we picked up some good points but now it’s time to crack on.
“There’s no easy games and every game is going to be a big one but it’s really exciting and a nice challenge.”
However, they now face arguably their toughest test of the winter period, as they now travel to a Luton side pushing to get into the play-offs.
Opponents: Luton Town
The Hatters come into this one on a run of good form since Jack Wilshere took charge of the side in October.
However, despite a run of just three losses in the former Arsenal midfielder’s first 15 games, the side have since gone on to lose two of their last three.
One of those eliminated them from the EFL Trophy at the hands of Sky Bet League Two side Swindon Town.
Before that, they found a 2-1 victory over fellow play-off pushers Stevenage which came off the back of a 1-0 loss to relegation threatened Exeter City.
Team news:
Despite that, Skubala is still weary of a Luton Town he side he described as having a “new identity” after watching the side twice in the last week.
He was present at Kenilworth Road last weekend for the side’s victory over Stevenage, however now takes his injury hit squad down to Bedfordshire to solidify their promotion push.
Six senior players will be forced to sit this one out through injury as Oscar Thorn, Josh Honohan, Ben House and Adam Jackson all near a return.
Tom Bayliss picked up an injury against Stockport County and remains out while James Collins remains out for the season with his ACL injury.
Despite that, he had a year long extension on his contract triggered during the week keeping him at the LNER Stadium until 2027 alongside Tendayi Darikwa, Connor McGrandles and Reeco Hackett.
On how those injuries and extensions affect the plans for the remainder of the transfer window, the City head coach said: “We’re going to have to think about who we bring in as we might be a bit short at the moment.”
Head-to-head:
Skubala also briefly touched on the reverse fixture in which the Imps ran out 3-1 victors at Sincil Bank back in September.
A Ben House brace came either side a goal from Justin Obikwu as Skubala’s side secured a late victory to establish themselves as serious contenders this season.
That was just the Imps’ seventh victory over the Hatters as this weekends hosts have tended to have the better of the affair winning it on 17 occasions.
Their last victory came in January 2018 when they found a 4-2 victory at Kenilworth Road to keep their unbeaten record against the Imps this millennium going.
Played for both:
Current Lincoln City striker James Collins is arguably the biggest name to have lined up for both sides.
He represented the Hatters for four seasons between 2017 and 2021 where he made 183 appearances and scored 72 goals.
His most prolific season came in 2017/18 where he scored 25 goals in 44 league appearances.