Lincoln City's start to the season hasn't exactly been great and the form of some players simply hasn't been good enough. Players such as Lee Frecklington and Dany N'Guessan have come no-where near showing their skill and the Imps have seriously started to suffer because of this, especially as Frecklington has been a vital part of the team in recent times.

City know that if we are to launch a push for promotion this season then we will have to start pulling our fingers out. The Imps are currently performing like a team that never looks like it will score, but one that can also concede without the opposition actually being any good. City have played three very poor sides in their first four games and yet we've only picked up one point. It's simply not good enough. Dagenham and Redbridge were one of the worst sides I've seen in ages, score a goal against the run of play and end up winning the game.

The one ray of light in City's immediate future will make his debut tomorrow. Adrian Patulea is set to start against the Bees after a long running transfer saga. The striker showed in pre-season that he has the ability that could potentially do to our season what Gary Fletcher did (before his name change) in the 2003/4 season. GTF brought inspiration to the Imps and that could easily be the case again if Patulea can reproduce the form he showed in pre-season.

The striker is likely to pair up with either David Graham or Sam Mullarkey as Ben Wright and Kevin Gall are both unlikely to feature thanks to a virus that has also caught out several members of the squad. Fortunately, most of those caught by the virus haven't performed and this might mean that the players coming into the squad will be desperate to prove themselves and show Peter Jackson what they can bring to the squad.

The full list of players who are likely to miss the game consists of LJL, Kevin Gall, Ben Wright, Paul Green, Rob Burch, Stefan Oakes and Aaron Brown. If I'm being honest, I'm only disappointed to lose two of those, Burch and Oakes. If Burch will be out then the goalkeeping statue that is Ayden Duffy will more than likely stand between the sticks.

Danny Hone could be finally in for a start with Lee Beevers moving into the absent right back with Janos Kovacs partnering Hone in the centre, although the left back position could prove problematic. Kerr, Frecklington and N'Guessan are the likely starters in midfield with the other position remaining open due to the absense of the players who normally play there, I suspect that Shane Clarke will get the nod.

Barnet are certainly not free of problems. Jeremy de Magalhaes is out for 3-6 weeks and I'm sure Alan Long will be pleased with that one. The Bees are hoping that the returning Yakubu and Devera can help steady a defence that has conceded a whopping 16 goals on the road during the opening month of the season.

Barnet have lost every single game this season, only once managing to concede less than three goals. Two 3-1 defeats, a 4-0, 4-2 and 5-1 rounds out a pretty miserable opening few weeks to the season and they remain as one of only two sides to fail to pick up any points during the season so far, the other being Macclesfield.

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