By Nathan Jackson
November 1 2007

It's a very rare sight to see Lincoln City fans full of pure unadulterated optimism, but this is one of those times as Peter Jackson takes charge of his first City game, a home game against Chester. It is one of the hardest starts that a manager has had to compete with, as the Imps face several high placed teams in the next few weeks, starting with the afforementioned Chester City.

Without a victory since August 25th, the Imps will have a tough task of beating a Chester side who have been re-energised by Bobby Williamson. After being in relegation fights since they came into this division a few years ago, the men from the Saunders Honda Stadium finally seem to have turned the corner. However, their away run of 5 wins and a draw from their 6 away games this season has to come with a defeat eventually.

City had two very strange games against Chester last season. The scoreline at the SH Stadium certainly flattered the hosts, whereas the Imps didn't particulary deserve a 2-0 win at Sincil Bank on the final day of the season. Infact, if Chester had beaten the Imps on the final day then 3 sides would have leap-frogged the Imps, leaving City in 8th place and out of the playoff places for the first time since the 2nd game of the season.

As with any new manager it's hard to predict their first starting line up. Jackson used to play with Nat Brown on the right wing at times during his reign at Huddersfield, whereas he's been played in defence virtually his whole time with the Imps. There are very few players who you can guarantee will be in the starting XI, so predicting a team would be nigh on impossible.

As for Chester, they have one or two names that will be familiar with Imps fans. Simon Yeo spent a total of 3 and a half years as an Imps player, missing countless open goals and easy chances, only scoring on average 1 in every 25 shots. His proudest moment for the Imps is when his wayward shot deflected off of Reuben Hazel's shoulder and sent the Imps into the Playoffs for the first time.

Kevin Ellison was a loanee at City in the 03/04 season, stating that he wouldn't join the Imps permanently because he wanted to stay in the north west.....6 months later he was playing for Hull City......a City further east than Lincoln. The other former Imps is the ever popular Kevin Sandwith, one of the few who can rival Lee Frecklington for the title of "Lincoln's Worst Ever Set-Piece Taker."

There are no real major stars or stand out players in Chester's squad, it's more a case of they have a good TEAM and that's what's winning them games.