Lincoln look to return to the automatic promotion places as they host rock-bottom Rochdale

Lincoln City will look to return to the League One automatic promotion places on Saturday as they host bottom-of-the-table Rochdale, with the race for promotion to the Championship hotting up.

Michael Appleton’s side have been a joy to watch this campaign. The progress that the Imps have made under the 45-year-old has been rather impressive. When Appleton took over in September 2019, the Lincolnshire club had just been promoted to the third tier, with long-serving manager Danny Cowley departing for Championship outfit Huddersfield Town.

Lincoln finished 16th that campaign with the season declared null and void as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the progress made this term has been magnificent.

The Imps are now well and truly in the race for promotion, sat just one point below second-place Peterborough United, with both sides boasting two games in hand on tabble-topping Hull City who are four points ahead of Appleton’s side.

The former-Oxford United manager’s efforts at the LNER Stadium have been recognised by those above him as the Englishman was handed a new four-year contract at the end of February, as he is seen as the long-term candidate by the Lincoln hierarchy.

A slight dip in form has slightly halted Lincoln’s race for promotion though, with the Imps recording five points from their last five games; draws have to be turned into wins if automatic promotion is to be achieved.

With automatic promotion the goal for the end of the season, Michael Appleton will be encouraged that, at the very least, finishing in a Play-Off spot almost looks a guarantee with the 45-year-old’s side nine points clear of sixth-place Portsmouth.

Pompey are second-place Peterborough’s next opponents, with the fixture not being played until Tuesday, meaning that a win for Lincoln would see them return to the top two for the weekend.

The Lincolnshire club will believe that Saturday’s upcoming fixtures against bottom-side Rochdale will prove the perfect opportunity to return to winning ways with just 13 League One outings remaining.

It just hasn’t clicked for Rochdale and Brian Barry-Murphy this campaign. The Dale are sat rock-bottom of League One and are five points from safety with 12 games left to save their credentials as a third-tier outfit.

The Greater Manchester outfit have managed just one league win in the 17 games they’ve played during 2021, recording nine points from a possible 51, which has seen them slip to the foot of the table.

A run of three consecutive fixtures against promotion-chasing sides in Hull, Sunderland and Lincoln, became even more daunting when the Dale failed to pick up wins against sides closer to them, like Burton and Northampton, for example.

Beating the Imps would be a major accomplishment in Rochdale’s quest for rare survival, with the hosts looking to springboard back up to the automatic promotion places.

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