By Nathan Jackson
March 1 2007

Lincoln City head into the local derby against Mansfield knowing that only a win will ease several fans promotion worries. Just 3 wins so far in 2007 has seen several fans become increasingly worried about the automatic promotion places, despite being just a point off 3rd place.

Having been born in Sutton-In-Ashfield, I always eagerly look forward to games against Mansfield Town, and in recent years I’ve had plenty to cheer about. My first few encounters with the Stags all ended in defeat, until a certain Saturday in March 2001 when City won 3-2 at Field Mill, a first away win in 336 days. A few years later and Richard Butcher scored one of my favourite ever City goals, and who can forget what happened earlier this season?

 

Then of course we have the home game in the 2003/4 season. After Liam Lawrence did his usual trick of conning the referee, City came storming back to win confidently and cement a promotion push. It secured a relatively comfortable double over the Stags, and maybe if we’d have gotten past Huddersfield then we’d have progressed on to League 1, I guess we’ll never know now though will we?

 

It seems almost ironic that I’m referring to a playoff season when we could have easily gone up. Although the Imps are still only a point behind the automatic promotion places, recent form has been far from impressive, and only a minor miracle of virtually everyone else around us having the same terrible form. That is one of the main reasons Stockport and Hartlepool have been able to take such huge advancements in recent weeks from lower midtable obscurities.

 

This could turn out to be one of the most vital games of the season, a win would re-install some much needed confidence, especially as we face both Hartlepool and Swindon in the upcoming few weeks. Fortunately promotion is still within our own hands, we don’t need to rely on other results just yet, but it is absolutely vital that we start getting wins under our belts.

 

City go into the game knowing that at least one different face will be in the side, it is likely that Adie Moses will play his first game since the defeat at Notts County in place of the suspended Nat Brown. Other than that it is expected that the Imps will field the same side that dominated the game against Accrington Stanley. This could cause some grumbles amongst Imps fans who have called for 2 of the starting 11 to be dropped.

 

Martin Gritton has scored 6 goals in 10 games since joining the Stags on loan from City, he is however ineligible to play due to an agreement in the loan deal. Mansfield aren’t short on attacking quality though, as Barry Conlon, Danny Reet, and Michael Boulding will all be challenging for a starting place. If you had to pick a match winner out of the eligible Mansfield side, you’d probably have to go Michael Boulding who is the most inform out of the 3 listed above.

 

The Stags have had a rather inconsistent season so far, beating several teams you’d fancy them to lose to, before then losing to teams you’d expect them to easily beat. Winning just 2 of their opening 11 league games certainly didn’t help things, and they were involved in a relegation battle. Throughout the rest of the season, they’ve pulled away several times, only to be pulled back in again.

 

It seems almost ironic that their form has picked up ever since they sold Ritchie Barker. Their last outing saw an unsurprisingly win over Wycombe Wanderers. That came despite several problems with their midfield, with several players missing out for various reasons.