Lincoln City will be aiming to extend their unbeaten run to five matches in League One when they host Fleetwood Town on Saturday.
The visitors, meanwhile, have moved off the foot of the table by dispatching Port Vale and Bristol Rovers in recent matches.
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Lincoln, on the other hand, remained in the top half after securing a superb 1-0 win away to Burton Albion. With all three teams directly beneath them in the table winning, it was a crucial victory for Lincoln, who avoided enduring 10 straight league games without tasting success.
The win was particularly impressive, too, considering that they played with 10 men for over an hour of normal time. Alex Mitchell was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence after just 29 minutes, yet Reeco Hackett-Fairchild's strike after half time handed the visitors an unlikely victory.
Despite having 12 shots and 61% possession across the course of the encounter, Lincoln goalkeeper Lukas Jensen was only called into action on four occasions. Lincoln actually managed four shots on target themselves, with Hackett-Fairchild's ultimately the one that mattered most.
It also meant a third successive clean sheet for the Imps, who had drawn 0-0 at home against promotion-chasing sides Derby County and Peterborough United in their previous two games. Having won just one of their last 10 home fixtures, head coach Michael Skubala and his players will be desperate to improve that record at Sincil Bank against struggling opponents on Saturday.
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That said, after enduring a winless run of 12 matches in League One, Fleetwood have found two successive victories from nowhere in the past week to climb off the bottom of the table.
Charlie Adam's side were deserved winners at home against Port Vale last weekend, running out 3-0 victors in the end. Jayden Stockley fired them into the lead after only eight minutes, with goals from Ronan Coughlan and Ryan Broom in the second half capping a dominant performance.
The Cod Army backed that win up by dispatching Bristol Rovers 2-0 away from home on Tuesday evening, with Coughlan and Stockley on the scoresheet once again. Chris Martin saw red in injury time for the hosts, but the result was already wrappd up by that point.
As such, Fleetwood have moved to within six points of safety, which seemed unthinkable only one week ago. However, they have plenty of work ahead of them if they are to avoid dropping back down to League Two for the first time since 2014.
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Lincoln will remain without Lewis Montsma, as the defender continues his rehabilitation from a cruciate ligament injury. They will also be without Mitchell at the back, as the 22-year-old must serve a one-match suspension after his dismissal against Burton.
Paudie O'Connor came on during the first half of that victory and will almost certainly be given the nod from the outset against Fleetwood. Otherwise, Skubala may see little reason to change a winning team, having witnessed them work so hard to defy their numerical advantage last time out.
Providing that Adam has no concerns regarding fatigue, the former Liverpool midfielder is unlikely to make any changes to Fleetwood's winning XI from midweek. Stockley will lead the line for the visitors once again, having bagged three goals in his last three games.
The likes of Harrison Holgate, Ryan Graydon and Phoenix Patterson will be hoping to be called upon from the bench once again after appearing in the second half in Bristol on Tuesday.
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Jensen; Sorensen, O'Connor, Jackson, Roughan; Hamilton, Bishop, Erhahon, Hackett-Fairchild; Draper, Duffy
Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:
Lynch; Sarpong-Wiredu, Heneghan, Campbell; Broom, Lawal, Kilkenny, Johnston; Omochere, Stockley, Coughlan
We say: Lincoln City 1-1 Fleetwood Town
Lincoln's games tend to be low-scoring, with the Imps averaging slightly over one goal-per-game scored and exactly one goal-per-game against heading into this match. They have kept three straight clean sheets and will be confident after their win against Burton with 10 men.
However, Fleetwood will also be buoyed after winning two successive games, and we can envisage the two sides playing out a low-scoring draw on Saturday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
