Lincoln City begin their 2026/27 campaign with a trip to Pride Park to face fellow EFL Championship side Derby County in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
As expected, it’s been a summer of change for the Imps as former head coach, Michael Skubala, departed for Bristol City before assistants Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw were appointed as head coaches.
Erik Ring left early in July, heading to Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock, JJ McKiernan left to join newly promoted League One side Bromley, and most recently fan favourite Jack Moylan was bought by Cardiff City.
On the other hand, Callum Elder is now an Imp after his contract at Derby County expired, Andrei Coubiș joined from Romanian outfit FC Universitatea Cluj, in a reported record deal for the Imps.
Aston Villa’s Joe Gauci was signed on loan for the season and Tottenham Hotspur’s 18-year-old talent Mason Melia joined in the same deal.
Opponents- Derby County
John Eustace has also strengthened his squad over the summer, after they missed out on the play-offs by four points last term.
Midfielder Bobby Clark made his loan move from Red Bull Salzburg permanent after an impressive season last time out.
While, former Championship Golden Boot winner Sammie Szmodics has also returned to Pride Park on loan from newly promoted side Ipswich Town.
That comes after the Irish international enjoyed the best goalscoring season of his career under Eustace at Blackburn Rovers, netting 27 Championship goals during the 2023/24 campaign.
Attacking midfielder Filip Bilbija arrived from SC Paderborn, following a prolific season that saw him score 17 goals in 33 games across all competitions helping the German side secure promotion to the Bundesliga.
One notable departure is midfielder Liam Thompson, who has joined Mansfield Town on a two-year deal, after an injury-hit campaign limited him to just 18 appearances last season.
Team News
Although not a league match to kick things off it is an important game, giving the Imps a real taste of what is to come this season.
Cohen spoke on whether some of the new signings, specifically Coubiș, and said: “It’s going to take a little bit of time to settle like with all new players.
“It’s a different league coming from Romania to the championship, but we see stand out moments every day and you’ve got to make sure you pick the right times to put them.”
“He will definitely be involved this weekend.”- Chris Cohen
About the match itself, he added: “We’re so excited for the game, they were in contention for the play-offs last year, so we’re coming up against one of the best teams in the Championship.
“We’re going to go in and stress the game model and see what it looks like against a really good team with really good players.”
Head-to-Head
Lincoln City last beat Derby County back in September of 2022 when a combination of Jack Diamond and Ben House helped the Imps to win 2-0.
Since then, the Imps have only been able to come away with a solitary point, which came in a 0-0 draw between the two sides back in January 2024.
Overall, the hosts have comfortably had the better of the Imps as they came out on top on 24 occasions, compared to City’s four.
And it was much of the same in this competition last time out as a hat-trick from Nathan Ellington helped the Rams to a 3-1 win back in 2008.
Played for Both
Sonny Bradley has played for both of these sides and should Elder get game time tomorrow, then the same can be said for the Australian.
James Collins also has spent time at both clubs, but he unfortunately has not been seen since the ACL injury that he sustained during an EFL Trophy match against Huddersfield Town in December.
Bizarrely, former Middlesborough, Derby and most recently Jamaica manager Steve McLaren has played in both kits when he joined Lincoln City on loan from Derby in 1987. McLaren only made eight appearances for the Imps during his short stint.