Lincoln City make the trip to face former boss Michael Skubala and his Bristol City side tonight as they look to go five games unbeaten in the EFL Championship.
The Imps will be eager to make Skubala rue his decision to trade Lincolnshire for Bristol this summer as the 43-year-old left the club after three years, having just guided City to SkyBet League One glory last campaign.
Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen’s side bounced back from their 4-0 defeat to Premier League side AFC Bournemouth when they earned a massive three points against a struggling Preston North End on Saturday.
Freddie Draper netted the decisive goal in that match with just under ten minutes to go, securing a 1-0 win and putting his side on a respectable eight points in the league from six games.
Opponents- Bristol City:
Bristol City endured a tough start to life under Skubala as they were winless in all of his first three competitive games at the club.
They were quite embarrassingly knocked out of the Carabao Cup by SkyBet League Two side Walsall, before being humbled by Millwall 2-0 at home and then drawing 2-2 with Birmingham.
After that Desmond result however, the Robins managed to recover well, winning all of their next three league games against Portsmouth, Preston and Burnley – scoring twice past the 80th minute mark at Turf Moor to merit a 2-1 result.
That impressive streak ended with a 4-1 defeat to Southampton in their last match, with the Bristol fans inevitably hoping for a quick return to winning ways.
Skubala said: “I’m very proud of my time at Lincoln but now, when we cross that white line, I definitely want to go and beat them and I’m sure they’re the same.”
Team News:
Summer signing Daniel Oyegoke was subbed off in the 68th minute in Lincoln’s 1-0 win over Preston, however that was only cramp and he should be fit and raring to go again tonight.
Elsewhere, Tom Shaw gave an injury update on the team as a whole, as he said: “We’re in a really good place, we got through the game really well.”
Versatile defender Tom Hamer’s return was described as being “close” while Shaw also gave fans an update on Mason Melia, who suffered a leg injury in training last Monday.
Shaw said: “Mason Melia will be out for a few weeks so ourselves and Spurs will get that right for him – he will probably be back after the international break now which is disappointing as he’s shown some promise in the spell coming up to his injury.
“I’m disappointed for Mason but we’ll get him patched up and ready for after the break.”
Head-to-head:
Tonight will mark the first league meeting between the Imps and the Robins in 40 years, with the two sides last locking horns with eachother in Division Three back in 1986.
Although, just four years ago the sides met in the Carabao Cup, with the likes of Antoine Semenyo, Andreas Weimann, and Premier League champion Andy King all starting for Bristol, who hosted the tie.
And despite the calibre of players, the team then managed by Nigel Pearson were beaten 3-1 by the Imps, as Matty Virtue, current starter Ben House and former captain Paudie O’Connor all found themselves on the scoresheet.
Overall, the clubs have crossed paths on 37 occasions overall, with the Robins winning 19 and Lincoln winning ten of those matches.
Played for both:
Current Lincoln City defender Ryley Towler joined in the summer of 2025 and helped the Imps complete a historic season in which they became centurions in the third division of English football.
The 24-year-old has now accumulated 45 league appearances in Lincolnshire, but before that, he spent 12 years at Bristol City; making eight senior appearances for the club and going out on four separate loan spells in the space of four seasons.
Other significant names to wear red for both the Imps and Robins include current Bristol City centre-back Rob Dickie, Hakeeb Adelakun and ex-Premier League defender Nathan Baker.