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Imps hope to avenge shock double over Wrexham
By Nathan Jackson September 27 2007
Lincoln City will go into the game against Wrexham at the Racecourse having not beaten them in 3 games, with the Dragons being the only side to do the double over us last season. Both sides are in terrible form, but a bad omen for the Imps is that City have already been involved in two games featuring the team propping up the League, with the bottom side winning on both occasions.

Saturday's game against Wrexham is a real relegation 6 pointer, if City win then we move to a reasonably comfortable distance from the relegation zone, if Wrexham win then they will be off the bottom of the table. City can't go bottom of the table due to two of the sides below us playing each other.

Both sides have been in terrible form this side, securing just 3 wins in the 13 games between them. It's almost ironic that since Brian Carey took over Wrexham in January, both sides have had identical records of 7 wins in 27 games. That record has put both managers under pressure, with John Schofield's constantly stubborness and ignorance really starting to frustrate the majority of fans.

With the defeat against Grimsby last weekend, John's record turned against him he has now lost 24 games whilst in charge of the Imps, compare that to just 23 wins and it's starting to paint a worrying trend. Despite this record, Brian Carey was quick to defend Schofield in the North Wales Daily Post.

Carey stated “John is a young manager who is learning his trade. “He has been changing the way Lincoln traditionally played and that takes time. We are making changes here as well, which won’t happen overnight. By the same token we both realise that it’s a results business and it’s equally true that we sincerely believe we can turn things round. It’s no surprise either that the rhetoric emerging from the rival camps in the countdown to the weekend bears a striking similarity."

City have so far unsuccessfully attempted to bring in yet more average players on loan, not that it would have made a difference as Schofield's loan signings often play just 2 matches and then disappear into the wilderness. This means that there aren't likely to be many changes to the Imps side.

Marriott will more than likely be in goal with Beevers, Hoof Brown, Moses and Croft in defence. Schofield's preference to play strikers on the wings will again probably see N'Guessan and Dodds playing either side of Frecklington and Hand. Up front will probably be Torpey and Forrester, although fans have been calling for Ben Wright to finally be given a chance to shine in the first team.

Wrexham are one of the few teams that have been worse than the Imps so far, and Carey, one of the few managers to have a 100% winning record against the Imps, stated in the NW Daily Post that he feels the the team that displays the most spirit and passion will win the game.

“Under the circumstances it’s probably true that the team which most displays confidence and character is the one that’s likely to come out on top. We showed those qualities in spades towards the end of last season and we could certainly do with seeing some of the same at the moment.” claimed Carey.

Their current situation is a far cry from where their supporters were going around all the League 2 message boards claiming they would finish Top 7 at minimum, one fan even comically claiming they would win the League scoring 100 goals.

Juan Ugarte played in last week's 2-1 defeat to Wrexham, his first game for the Dragons since December 2006 and the injury prone striker has made a shocking 8 appearances in the last 2 years. His last goals coming with a hatrick at Stockport in April 2005, having ended that season on 22 goals, which impressively saw him take 4 matchballs home.

Carey will be hoping that Sicknote Urgate will fire Wrexham to a victory over City, with the Dragons scoring just 4 times in the League this season. Carey has nearly a full squad to choose from, with the most noteable absentee being Michael Proctor, scorer of 2 of those 4 goals.

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