Lincoln City entertain Fleetwood Town with both sides looking to kickstart their seasons

Lincoln City welcomes Fleetwood Town to the LNER Stadium this weekend hoping to record their first home win of the season after a solid if not spectacular start to the League One campaign.

Mark Kennedy will be looking for a much stronger response from his side as they return to League One matters this weekend after being left ‘bitterly disappointed’ following their 4-0 defeat at Peterborough United last weekend.

Going into the game, there is little separating the sides with mirroring results, they have both picked up five points, recording just one win, drawing three but only losing the one game.

Home supporters have seen the Imps record two 1-1 draws against Exeter City and Forest Green Rovers respectively, and will be hoping to build on their encouraging away win at Oxford United as they settle into the new regime with changes a plenty on the touchline and pitch.

Lincoln have brought in nine new faces since Kennedy took over the reins at Sincil Bank in the summer, and he is hoping for continued momentum after bouncing back against Barrow in the Carabao Cup.

Both sides had contrasting fortunes in the second round of the cup. Lincoln progressed after it took penalties to defeat their League Two opposition. Jordan Wright was the hero for the Imps in midweek, making three saves in the shoot-out after the game had tied 2-2 at full time.

Fleetwood faced disappointment having been eliminated by Premier League Everton, to a solitary Demarai Gray goal. Despite the Toffees enjoying the lion’s share of possession, there is no doubt that Head Coach Scott Brown, will have taken plenty of positives from the game with his side registering 10 shots despite just four being on target.

Fleetwood will be boosted by the arrival of 28-year-old Scottish defender Mikey Devlin, who has had spells at Hamilton and Aberdeen and is a man that Brown knows well. Having played three times for the Scottish national side, Devlin has been training with the club and earned himself a short-term contract.

Speaking to club media, midfielder Dan Batty was optimistic about his side’s chances against The Imps and looking at the game as a fixture where they can pick up three points on their travels.

“We’ve had a good start to the season. We’ve started off strong and to have played in every game so far – which I hope to continue that – and scored a few goals and that’s something I want to keep pushing in terms of scoring goals.

“We go to Lincoln knowing that we have a great opportunity of winning the game. They’ve had a similar start to us so we won’t be going there to let them have all the joy, we are going there to compete and win.”

Head Coach Kennedy is still without the injured Adam Jackson with a dead leg but Ben House has returned to training, although the Fleetwood game may have come too soon for him.

Kennedy is expecting a tough game as Fleetwood comes to town under their own new manager, with him also trying to implement his ideas and philosophies along with the former Republic of Ireland international.

“Up until last week, we had similar starts to the season. Both positive, both strong, don’t concede many goals. They’ve had a very solid start and their new manager obviously has started with positive beginnings and as always, we’ll expect a tough game of football.”

When asked about whether he looks to predict outcomes of games and set himself points returns month to month, Kennedy was quick to point out that he didn’t believe in that approach as a player and now as a manager, very much concentrating on each game as it comes.

“Games are completely different (each week). You’ll win games you’re not expected to and you’ll lose games that you are. The understanding of what we’re trying to do on a daily basis and where we’re trying to get to; the core principles, how we visualise what the game should look like, and maximising their strengths are what we focus on. We believe that with that (approach), we’ll get results.”

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