By Nathan Jackson
January 30 2011

Lincoln City will aim for a fourth win in a row as they make a Tuesday evening visit to Bradford City. The Imps recent form has seen the club rise from the bottom of the table to three points above the relegation zone, and a win would move them level on points with the Bantams.

Two weeks ago the Imps were bottom, comfortably bottom and in the situation where even a win wouldn't have moved us out of the drop zone, three games and three wins later and all of a sudden things seem rosey in Lincoln. Goals are still coming on a regular basis and we've even remembered how to defend, infact. We've gone over 150 minutes without conceding, we'd better be careful otherwise we might have to start paying clean sheet bonuses on quite a regular basis.

The change in this football club over the last few weeks has been excellent. All the underperformers (or just plain crap players) such as Jarrett, Hutchinson, Anyon and Swaibu have all been dropped and that change in personnel has seen results pick up. The squad already looks very different to the one that effectively surrendered to Bradford just under a month ago. This players actually fight for each other and even players such as Josh O'Keefe are starting to look quite useful. Things are looking up.

With numerous new players, those who start know that a poor performance could easily see them dropped, with Scott Spencer (right), Patrick Kanyuka and Ali Fuseini waiting in the wings.

With games coming thick and fast, the Imps have a brilliant chance to suddenly move up the table very quickly and the fact we've still got games in hand on virtually everyone has seen some (including myself) rather over-optimistically thinking that the Playoffs aren't that much of an impossibility. For now we have to concentrate on getting enough points not to get relegated and I think that with Stockport and Barnet not likely to get more than 40 points before the end of the season, four more wins (combined with draws) would be enough to easily see us safe.

Looking at our fixtures in February we could get those four victories quicker than initially thought. Bradford have been in very poor form since beating us, we've been the better team in all three games against Hereford, Shrewsbury are free falling and in a month where we also face Barnet, we could well be effectively safe by month's end.

However, if there's anything this run has taught us, confidence has a lot to do with form and a defeat on Tuesday could easily see us right back where we started. The last time we won three in a row was back in November, the next game was a Tuesday night fixture with a team beginning with B and we lost 5-0.....then again, we haven't got Anyon in goal so the chances of that again are remote.

Lincoln have no new injury worries going into the game and you'd be very, very surprised to see Steve Tilson change the starting XI. Patrick Kanyuka and Scott Spencer are both due to make their first appearances for the club, although both will more than likely start from the bench.

Three new signings are expected in the squad, with now that Scott Kerr has left the club, there is a place in the midfield to be won. It is likely that Howell will move back into the centre to partner the ever improving Josh O'Keefe, with the up-for-grabs place being the right wing. Carayol has apparantly started training with the side again, but it might come too soon, but you wouldn't bet against Tilson trying Jarrett on the right wing.

THE LIKELY CITY STARTING XI
	Carson kept his first clean sheet for the Imps on Saturday and has impressed since joining on loan just under two weeks ago. If he keeps a second clean sheet against Bradford then it will be the first time since October 2009 that we have kept two clean sheets in a row.
	Hunt has come in and made a decent start to his loan spell from Notts County. The defence has become far more stable with the introduction of a young, but experienced defender and he has been one of the key reasons we have won the last three games
	After coming under scrutiny over the last few weeks, Watts has done really well in recent weeks given that he is not next to a competent defender, and not Moses Swaibu. With the arrival of Kanyuka, he now knows that the pressure is on otherwise he can found himself out of the team.
	Hone's return to the side has seen a remarkable improvement in the goals against column. He has formed a decent partnership at the centre of defence with Adam Watts, but much like Watts, he knows a poor performance could easily see him out of the side. The game against Port Vale marked his 70th appearance in a Lincoln shirt.
	Kelly has come into the side in recent weeks and despite a horrible passing success rate, he has helped improve the goals against column. With Hoyte returning from injury though, if there's one player at risk of being dropped it is Kelly.
	McCallum's technique on the left wing is unusual to say the last. His crossing isn't great but he isn't afraid to run at defenders, something which Albert Jarrett was definitely afraid to do. He made his 15th League appearance for the Imps at the weekend.
	Howell made his loan deal permanent before the weekend and could easily be the long term replacement for Scott Kerr. This will be his first away game as a permanent Imp.
	O'Keefe's form has suddenly taken a massive rise in recent weeks and he's finally looking like the midfielder than Chris Sutton had hoped he had been when he signed in the summer. He will know though that with new midfielders around, he can't afford to make mistakes.
	Jarrett will probably get the nod for a rare start following the sale of Kerr. He definitely needs a good performance after months of playing badly. If he expects to be here next season then he'd better pull his finger out.
	Without doubt the in-form striker for us at the moment and if he scores, he equals Davide Somma's 9 goals in his first 13 games, a target that seemed unreachable.
	Facey's incorporation as captain recently has seen a revitalisation in his playing. He suddenly looks like a striker capable of playing at a higher level, it's just a shame that he can't score.

The Imps and the Bantams only started competing again in 2007 and the sides have both won twice and shared two draws in that time. It all started back in September 2007 as Bradford made their way to Sincil Bank for the first League meeting between the clubs since the first in 1985. Lincoln took a very dubious lead early on when Louis Dodds' strike was adjudged to have crossed the line, although whether it did or not is very inconclusive. Despite a spirited performance from the Imps, goals from Ndumbu-Nsungu and Colbeck secured the win for the visitors. It was the second in a run of five defeats that started to spell the end for Schofield and Deehan.

Lincoln made the return trip to Valley Parade on Boxing Day and couldn't have wished for a worse start, conceding to a Peter Thorne goal within the first minute. Lincoln would dominate the rest of the game however before equalising through Lenell John-Lewis. The game appeared to be heading towards a draw when Barry Conlon scuffed an effort and it trickled past the useless Ben Smith to give the Bantams the double over Lincoln.

It would be another year before the clubs met again, this time it was a 0-0 draw on Boxing Day 2008 that saw a 0-0 draw, although the visitors were generally the better team. The return fixture was the game that officially confirmed that Lincoln would be a League Two team for the next season, then again, only the overly optimistic thought that City had a realistic chance anyway. Andy Hutchinson gave the Imps the lead just after half time with his first, and to date only, goal for the Imps. The lead latest until just after the year when Bullock equalised.

Last season saw City travel to Valley Parade early on, infact it was City's first League game and after Rob Burch saved a first half penalty, goals from Rene Howe and Chris Fagan propelled City to the nosebleed section of 7th place, it wasn't to last. This turned out to be Peter Jackson's last win as Lincoln manager, he was sacked two weeks later. The return again saw City go into a 2-0 lead through goals through Herd and Gilmour, Boulding did pull one back but Bradford couldn't find an equaliser.

Bradford beat the Imps on New Year's Day this season, winning 2-1 at Sincil Bank with Gareth Evans securing the win for the Bantams.

The clubs haven't shared many players over the last ten years. Two current Imps have played a competitive match for Bradford in that time, Scott Kerr and Delroy Facey (above). The clubs have also shared Luke Cornwall, David Graham, Gareth Grant and Spencer Weir-Daley in that time. Scott Loach has also been at both clubs, but he didn't play for the Imps before being sold to Watford.

Now that they have gotten rid of the egomaniac that was Michael Boulding, Bradford are having another average season. They did got off to a bit of a struggle, only winning one of their four League games in August and their only three points during that month coming from that game....even Lincoln managed more than that. Infact, Bradford had only won two League games up until mid-October, when a 2-0 win at Barnet appeared to kick start their season as it was the first in a run of four wins in five.

They appeared to be starting a push for promotion but just one win and three defeats in the five games since has pushed them back down the table. A win at Sincil Bank on New Year's Day seemed to move Bradford to a safe distance from the drop zone and despite winning a few days later against Bury, four straight defeats and five games without a win has seen Bradford fans again become worried that they might be inline for the drop.

Peter Taylor remains an unpopular figure amongst Bradford City fans, with several going around League Two message boards stating that they want him out of their club before he takes them down.

In all fairness, regardless of how poor Bradford may or may not be, they certainly have more than enough about them to stay up, especially as you can't see Stockport or Barnet being able to catch them.

Improving Imps aim for four of a kind at Bradford

Discussion started by theimps.ka (IP Logged), 31/01/2011 21:52

theimps.ka
31/01/2011 21:52

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