With their second leg of back-to-back home matches still to play, Lincoln City will aim to maintain their unbeaten record against fierce rivals Peterborough United in Sky Bet League One.
Adam Reach’s second half goal was enough to come away with a point against Yorkshire outfit Huddersfield Town on New Year’s Day after the Terriers went up 1-0 up thanks to Leo Castledine’s shot.
Sitting second in the league standings, the Imps will look to garner as many points as possible and tomorrow’s game against Peterborough will prove t0 be a tough test.
Opponents: Peterborough United
This season has been one of many ups and downs for the Posh. Most recently their form has been on the upside, going unbeaten since their game against Reading at the start of December in the league – picking up five wins and just one draw in that time.
The Posh have been defensively solid within this timeframe too with Luke Williams’ side having only conceded three goals within those six matches.
The newly found defensive duo Tom Lees and David Okagbue have been an effective brick wall towards this end of the season for Peterborough.
Going forward, Harry Leonard has been able to find the back of the net seven times in the league this season. The 22-year-old arrived in Peterborough from Blackburn in the summer and after some mediocre performances he’s now in flow state, able to score.
Team News:
Full- back Joshua Honohan is now an Imp and could be expected to be at least on the bench for the match against Peterborough.
Lincoln’s head coach Michael Skubala did say after the match against Huddersfield Town on Thursday that he wasn’t too sure as the Irishman hadn’t taken to the training pitch just yet.
The known four out for the Imps are James Collins, Oscar Thorn, Ben House and Adam Jackson as they are all still dealing with their injuries sustained earlier in the season.
Tom Bayliss will also be on the sidelines nursing an injury but both the club and Skubala aren’t sure on the timeframe just yet.
With the back-to-back matches, Skubala could decide to shake up his team ever so slightly. The likes of Frankie Okoronkwo, Justin Obikwu and Erik Ring haven’t had an extensive number of minutes recently, it is likely that these players will get some time on the pitch soon.
Head-to-Head:
The Imps have already played the Posh this season with Skubala’s men walking away with the win. Adam Reach scored his first goal in red and white from a free kick. The match ended 3-0 with Tendayi Darikwa and Justin Obikwu also getting goals.
Last season, the Imps battered the Posh at home in January last year, Freddie Draper, Tom Bayliss, Dom Jeffries and James Collins all got their names on the scoresheet as the game ended 5-1.
Back in 2018, these two played each other in the quarter final of the EFL Trophy. Danny Cowley’s Lincoln City did go onto win the competition after beating Shrewsbury in the final at Wembley Stadium, but Lincoln won the quarter final 4-2 with Matt Rhead, Harry Anderson, Matt Green and Danny Rowe all getting onto the scoresheet in a rather memorable match for Imps supporters.
Played for Both:
These two clubs have had a fair few players to have played in the two different shirts.
Most recently Ethan Hamilton, who’s since moved onto Dundee, had stints at both teams. Jorge Grant has also done the same, he left the Imps to join Peterborough right after the 2020/21 season which saw Lincoln City lose to Blackpool in the Sky Bet League One Playoff Final that season.
Fan favourite, Harry Anderson had two loan stints from Peterborough before deciding to permanently join the Imps in 2017. Anderson played for the Imps in the National League, League 2 and League 1 and would play a total of 222 games for Lincoln City scoring 34 goals in red and white.