Lincoln City face a familiar foe as they travel to Bolton Wanderers this weekend hoping to pick up their first ever Championship points.
To do that, they will need to carry the momentum from their 4-1 Carabao Cup victory over ten-man Blackpool during the week.
In which, Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen made 11 changes, as they expectedly made slow start, but recovered to score three second half goals following Cian Ashworth’s second yellow card.
Tanto Olaofe was among seven full debutants in Lancashire as he opened the scoring, before Tom Bayliss, Rob Street and Callum Elder all added their names to the scoresheet.
Opponents: Bolton Wanderers
However, now they return to the red rose county for this one, to face a side that has made a rather opposing start to the Imps, going unbeaten in their first two EFL Championship games.
In those they faced up to local rivals Preston North End, who even now still need to add to their squad with just a week remaining in the transfer window – taking all three points from the Lilywhites, before holding out for a 0-0 draw away to QPR.
All that comes despite Wanderers finishing 28 points behind the Imps as they gained promotion through the League One Play-offs, where they defeated Stockport County 4-1 in the final.
Steven Schumacher’s side have only pushed on from there, adding ten new faces to their squad, and now sit ninth in the Championship table.
Team News:
The Imps also acted in the transfer window adding seven faces to their squad, all of which featured in the Carabao Cup last time out.
Among that side was, Josh Honohan in the right-back position who was actually signed in January, but missed the remainder of last season through injury.
But he may need to step up to replace club captain Tendayi Darikwa who sustained an ACL injury in last weekend’s defeat to Portsmouth and head coach Chris Cohen said: “He’s going to be a huge loss; he’s still going to be so important to the team.”
Head-to-head:
Cohen also spoke on the impact that Darikwa had on the side last season when he said: “We were brilliant as a team last year because of some individual performances in it and Tendayi was a standout as a man and as a captain.”
He had to be that last season, as he picked the side up from conceding late equalisers in both games against this weekend’s opponents.
They came in 1-1 draws as an injury time own goal from Tom Hamer, cancelled out Freddie Draper’s first minute opener at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
Before Sam Dalby found the equaliser with just over five minutes to play in the reverse fixture in February, but now the Imps must turn the tide on history to pick up their first Championship points.
The hosts this time around have found victory in 17 of the clashes between the two sides, with the latest of Lincoln’s eight victories coming in a shock 4-2 win at the end of the 2024/25 season.
Played for both:
One current Wanderer that has made the switch from Lincoln City since that victory is Ethan Erhahon who left at the start of the 2025/26 season for a then record sale for the Imps.
He has since gone on to make 39 appearances for the Lancashire side and has started both of their Championship clashes so far this term.
Some other players to have made the switch include former captain of both sides Liam Bridcutt, while Ethan Hamilton completes a trio of Scots to have crossed the Pennines.