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Lincoln City are hoping to revive their automatic promotion hopes at the weekend with a difficult trip to The Stadium of Light as they take on a buoyant Sunderland outfit. The Black Cats are in excellent form, having won seven of their last eight league games, and having added their first piece of silverware under Lee Johnson, they’ll be looking to add further honours come May.
As for Lincoln City, they’ve had a nose dive in results in recent weeks as the pressure begins to build at the top of League One. Having lost to relegation-threatened Rochdale at Sincil Bank last weekend, a disappointing 3-0 home defeat to Gillingham on Tuesday evening has left Imps fans beginning to doubt their automatic credentials.
It was only a couple of months ago that Lincoln were looking every inch a promotion outfit, beating Gillingham away from home in front of the television cameras, but work is now needed to pick up confidence following a string of disappointing results. Having only won two of their last ten games, Michael Appleton’s men need to get some momentum back into their season with a tricky looking run in which includes promotion rivals and sides battling against relegation.
Lincoln will certainly feel that they owe Sunderland a result having been on the receiving end of a thumping 4-0 defeat at home at the beginning of Johnson’s tenure, with Charlie Wyke bagging a hat trick on an emphatic afternoon. A recent penalties defeat to the Wearsiders in the Papa John’s Trophy will also rankle as on that evening, Lincoln were arguably the better of the two sides and missed some good chances before the game was decided by spot-kicks.
If Lincoln are to cause an upset and get back on track with their automatic hopes, they’ll have to do it the hard way as they’ll be missing their highly influential striker Tom Hopper for the remainder of the season. Having sustained a hamstring injury in midweek, the 27-year old’s absence will be a huge blow to Michael Appleton. Hopper has been pivotal in Lincoln’s success this season with his eight goals and intelligence to bring others into play.
Whilst Sunderland will be pleased they won’t have to worry about Hooper, they’ll be doubly cautious of the threat from other areas of play. Both Brennan Johnson and Jorge Grant have been in irrepressible form throughout the season, with the former receiving another international call up from Wales in midweek. Manchester City loanee Morgan Rogers has also impressed with his pace and trickery from wide areas and has already racked up six goals since arriving in January.
Appleton is also sweating on the fitness of centre backs, Lewis Montsma and Adam Jackson unable to train on Thursday. With Joe Walsh already sidelined, the Imps boss may well look to deploy Liam Bridcutt into the role against his former club. Despite the injury headaches, Appleton has not been too disappointed with the level of his side’s recent performances and was in bullish mood that his side are capable of producing a win this weekend.
“We weren’t going over the top when we were winning every week, no-one was getting carried away with themselves. We were enjoying that moment and rightly so, because the performances were good.
“We’ll go up there and enjoy it. No-one is expecting us to win, everyone is expecting us to lose. Maybe we’ll surprise one or two.”
Lee Johnson will be in no mood to relent on Sunderland’s automatic promotion push as they moved into third in the League One table on Wednesday evening with a 2-0 away win at Accrington. Whilst there may have been a doubt of an after the lord mayor’s show performance going into the game, there were no signs of complacency, nor a Wembley hangover from Sunday’s Papa John’s Trophy win.
On a soggy playing surface, Johnson rotated his squad and hailed a ‘dirty win’ where principles of their slick passing game had to be thrown out to a certain degree in navigating the conditions.
Having been boosted further by the arrival and form of Carl Winchester and new striker Ross Stewart (from Ross County), Johnson has arguably the most impressive squad in the division. As the relentless Saturday-Tuesday programme continues into the final stages of the campaign, Johnson was able to make five changes at Accrington and still come away with all three points.
Johnson was particularly delighted with new boy Stewart who has had to wait for his opportunity to make an impression. Having grabbed his first goal for the club against Accrington in midweek, Johnson told local media:
“I was delighted for him to come on and score his goal – that’s one game, one goal, one medal!
“We’ve missed him, I think. I believe in what a good player he is because we did our research into him not only as a footballer, but as a human as well.
“We spent money when no-one is really spending money, so I think that shows how much we believe in him. It was a coup. He’s tall, he’s mobile, he’s got a good touch.”
Whilst top scorer Charlie Wyke and top creator Aiden McGeady have deservedly been grabbing the bigger headlines, Sunderland’s impressive form owes very much to a collective effort from back to front.
Sunderland are yet to concede a goal since the end of February, spanning over their last five games and in Max Power and Grant Leadbitter, they possess key players at the base of their midfield.
With the added option and competition from Carl Winchester (a January signing from Forest Green Rovers), their experience will be vital going into the final run-in. Lynden Gooch, their Wembley match-winner against Tranmere, made another key contribution against Accrington with an assist for Sunderland’s opener, taking his tally up to eight for the season.
With two games in hand over leaders Hull City, Johnson will be hoping to close the gap and to also put a nail in the coffin of Lincoln’s automatic hopes. With five points separating themselves from the top spot and a visit to both Peterborough and Hull coming up next month for the Black Cats, Johnson will fancy his side have what it takes to make a late surge for a return to Championship football.
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