Lincoln City will be looking to build on Saturday’s result as they take on Blackburn Rovers tonight at the ProAmpac Stadium just a matter of hours before the summer transfer window slams shut.
The Imps secured an important win at the Toughsheet Community Stadium against Bolton Wanderers last time out, with Ben House crucially netting the only goal of the match just past the hour mark.
That means a victory against Blackburn will put City on a three-game winning streak and also give them their first ever home win in the EFL Championship.
Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen’s side were also given a major boost over the weekend as they completed a club-record transfer for 6’7 striker Mikkel Ladefoged, with the Dane coming in as Lincoln’s eighth signing of the window.
Opponents: Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn have endured a mixed start to their 2026/27 campaign, starting things off with a 2-1 win against Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup before narrowly missing out on all three points against recently relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening day.
A 93rd minute penalty scored by Raul Jimenez denied them the win at the Molineux Stadium as they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw, but Rovers followed that up with an impressive 2-1 win over last years play-off finalists Middleborough.
Since that unbeaten start however, Blackburn have lost their last two fixtures, crashing out of the cup after a 2-1 defeat against Sheffield United before being beaten by the same scoreline against Queens Park Rangers – resulting in their first league loss of the season.
The Lancashire outfit have been reasonably quiet in the transfer window this summer, bringing in a handful of new players including Moussa Baradji on a permanent deal, as well as Jayden Fevrier and ex-Premier League midfielder Sam Morsy.
On the other hand, Tony Mowbray’s side have also had to wave goodbye to a handful of stars in the last few months, with the likes of Sondre Tronstad and Ryan Hedges leaving Ewood Park on free transfers.
Team news
As previously mentioned, Ladefoged was officially announced as an Imp on Sunday, with a club-record fee of around £4.3 million being splashed on the striker who netted nine league goals in 14 matches for Swedish top flight side Västerås SK last season.
On the new addition Tom Shaw said: “Yeah really exciting, we’ve obviously done a lot of homework on him over a period of time.
He’s got some unique attributes that people will really enjoy, and I’m just delighted that he’s joined us.
The 39-year-old co-head coach also stated that the club were waiting for the new signing’s work visa to come through and didn’t confirm whether or not he would feature in tonight’s game.
Versatile defender Tom Hamer missed out on Saturday’s clash against Bolton, with Shaw confirming that it’s not a major, long-term injury but that the club were waiting for the “final diagnosis” on his condition.
Head-to-head
Clashes between these two sides have been fairly few and far between with this encounter being just the second time that they have faced off since 1972.
The first of those two in 2018, when Blackburn ran out comfortable 4-1 winners in a Carabao Cup clash at Ewood Park as Rovers found four different goalscorers.
However, despite that blip it is actually the Imps that have the better of this one, with the two sides having not shared a league since 1958.
As City go into this one having won ten of the previous clashes compared to Blackburn’s seven with the last of those victories coming in 1971.
Played for both
As expected, that difference in quality is also reflected in the number of players to have represented both sides with perhaps the most recognisable name being Blackburn academy graduate Scott Wharton.
The brother of England international, Adam Wharton, had two seperate loan spells with City in both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.
There, the defender made a combined 31 appearances before enjoying two more loan spells at Bury and Northampton, before now establishing himself as a regular starter for Tony Mowbray’s side.