Lincoln City extended their gap on third place to eight points on Tuesday night, but can the Imps now start to look up the table rather than behind as they face a struggling Mansfield Town side tomorrow?
A 4-0 thumping at home against Northampton Town last Tuesday extended an incredible unbeaten run in 2026 for Lincoln City.
Goals from Jack Moylan, Rob Street, Ivan Varfolomeev, and new January loanee Ryan Oné comfortably secured the points for the Imps.
The Lincolnshire club have now scored an eye-watering 13 goals in the last five games, placing them just four points behind table-toppers Cardiff City.
Opponents: Mansfield Town
After a positive start to 2026 for Mansfield, there is no doubt that the Stag’s form has stagnated, as the Nottinghamshire side are now winless in six league games after a narrow 1-0 loss against Blackpool last Tuesday.
In contrast, Mansfield boast a remarkable FA Cup run, knocking out Premier League side Burnley away at Turf Moor last week. They will host Premier League leaders Arsenal in the fifth Round in early March.
“It’s another tough team in this league”, said Lincoln head coach Michael Skubala. “When you have results like that in the FA Cup you know they are good side.
“We are going to have to play exactly how we did Tuesday (against Northampton) and Saturday (against Bolton Wanderers), if we drop our levels, this team can really hurt you.”
Team News
In-form striker Freddie Draper was forced off early with a “tight hamstring” against Northampton. Michael Skubala said: “We’re not sure whether he will recover in time for Mansfield.”
In more positive news, January recruit Josh Honohan is back running on the grass after his injury in late December and Skubala confirmed it will be about a month before the Irishman is ready for selection.
Another player waiting for his debut is Deji Elerewe, the young Englishman is yet to be selected for City’s matchday squad after completing his move from League Two side Bromley.
Skubala said: “He is ready to go, he knows his situation, you can only pick a certain amount of players on the bench, and tactically it depends on the the game.”
Head-to-Head
The last time these two sides met was in the league at the LNER Stadium back in August 2025.
The game ended 1-1, where uniquely, centre-back Sonny Bradley scored his first goal for the club from a set piece, before receiving a straight red card 15 minutes later. Mansfield’s barrage of attacks resulted in an equaliser in the 81st minute from Nathan Moriah-Welsh.
In the previous eight times the sides have met however, Mansfield have only won once, with that win coming in September 2018 in the EFL Trophy Group Stage.
Played for both
Tyler Walker is the most familiar name to have featured for both sides after he left the Imps this summer having made just eight appearances in 18 months in his second stint at Sincil Bank.
He first joined the Imps on loan in the 2019-20 season and went on to make 29 appearances, scoring 14 goals in the sides first season back in League One.
This came directly after the forward spent a season on loan with the Stags where he made 52 appearances and scored 26 goals in League Two