Lincoln City look to bounce back against Accrington Stanley

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Lincoln City take on Accrington Stanley as they look to bounce back from their midweek humiliation at the hands of Portsmouth.

Losing 3-0 to the south coast side, the home defeat was compounded by ex-manager Danny Cowley being in the opposing dugout. 

Lincoln’s performance was described as a ‘car crash’ by Imps boss Michael Appleton, and with a chorus of boos greeting the final whistle on Tuesday, there are a few rumblings around Sincil Bank given Lincoln’s sluggish start to the season.

There is no doubt that the club has faced a number of challenges since last season’s play-off final defeat to Blackpool.

Appleton himself has recovered from testicular cancer over the summer months, and although the Mancunian is not one to complain, having to rebuild the club following the departures of loan players Brennan Johnson, Morgan Rogers and Alex Palmer, is not made any easier after the departures of Jorge Grant and Tayo Edun.

Looking at where those players moved onto, all five are now plying their trade at Championship clubs. Unfortunately, Lincoln were unable to get a lot of money for both Grant and Edun due to their contracts expiring with both players leaving for a fraction of their true value.

Rogers had signed for Bournemouth over the summer for a fee of £9m with a similar figure being turned down by Nottingham Forest for Johnson. To replace the likes of that quality simply would be in a budget that Lincoln could only dream about.

Striker Tom Hopper, who was amongst the goals last season, has been missing for a number of weeks and doesn’t look set to return until the new year. With the likes of Adan Jackson, Liam Bridcutt and Joe Walsh still suffering with injuries that plagued their last campaign, Appleton has very quickly had to pull together a new group.

Chris Maguire and Hakeeb Adelakun are still yet to hit the ground running and Dan Nlundulu has yet to show his true potential having joined on loan from Southampton.

Patience is certainly required as Appleton still searches to get a settled side and build on some stability. The overall strength of his squad does look to be stronger, it is just about coping with the latest number of injury problems.

When the Imps boss was asked in midweek whether he was willing to compromise on his style to play out from the back, Appleton replied with a resounding ‘no’ and had a message for Lincoln fans to stick with them.

“It would be easy for me to sit here preaching. But for me, it’s stay patient and stay behind the players. I’ve said it a million times, the group isn’t what it was last year unfortunately.

“It’s through nobody’s fault. We made the best of bad situation last year [during the first lockdown], we were on the front foot [with recruitment] and were able to bring in players that normally wouldn’t come to Lincoln City.

“That’s not being disrespectful to us at all, it’s a fact. Losing the likes of Tayo [Edun] and Jorge [Grant] adds to that.

“What we are this year is a work in progress. We’ve got players who signed in the summer who are going to be here for two or three years, who are still working towards their best football.”

There have certainly been some green shoots as winger Anthony Scully has further enhanced his reputation whilst Jamie Robson looks to be more than capable of developing at left-back having joined from Dundee United. 

Youngster Josh Griffiths, on loan from West Brom, has the potential to be equally as good a replacement for the outgoing Palmer whilst fellow youngsters Freddie Draper and Max Sanders are not far away from pushing for permanent first-team places.

Lewis Fiorini, Lasse Sorenson and Teddy Bishop have made a decent start at the club but it is nowhere near the quality of last year’s midfield that would pull teams apart. Conor McGrandles is yet to find consistent form also but to put aside the groans from the terraces, performances and results certainly need to pick up. 

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