If you were to ask either Lincoln or Stockport fans at the beginning of January, if they thought that by the time they met on 4^th February, they’d both be amongst the in-forms sides in the division, almost every single fan would start laughing out loud. City have now suffered just 1 defeat in the last 12 games, whereas seemingly doomed Stockport, have gone 6 without defeat since Jim Gannon took over on a temporary basis from Chris Turner.

This meeting of the in-form teams will be a massive opportunity for one of the sides, if the Imps win and results go City’s way, the Imps could be just a point off a playoff spot, whereas County could move 2 points clear of the drop-zone if they win.

Yeo returns from suspension and should come back into the first 11 in the place of Oliver Ryan, who failed to impress in yet another first team opportunity. There could be a surprise start for Lee Frecklington after Brown also failed to impress last week and now with Keates leaving the club, Frecklington has been tipped as the man to replace him. Other than that, there should be no surprises.

Marriott

Cryan   McCombe    McAuley   Hughes

Frecklington    Kerr     S/Robinson

Birch     Yeo     Green

Stockport were relegated from League 1 during the summer in a season that saw them win just 6 games all season. This season didn’t started particularly well either and by the time City had beaten them at the end of September, they had picked up just one win, that coming from their trip to Grimsby a few weeks prior to that and that produced a fine 3-1 victory. They started the campaign with a respectable draw at home to Mansfield before crashing 2-0 at Darlington. A 2-2 draw at Boston was followed but a 1-1 draw at home to Notts County. 1-1 draws followed at Oxford and at home to Peterborough before that 3-1 win in Cleethorpes. This was followed by an exciting 3-3 draw at home to Wycombe. However, this was followed by a 3-2 defeat at Rushden and Diamonds before a 0-0 draw with local rivals Chester.

Then came the game at Sincil Bank where a Lincoln side, full of suspensions and injuries easily beat a make-shift Stockport site and the men from Edgeley Park were one of the worst sides we’ve faced this season. Unsurprisingly, they lost 3-0 at Wrexham before yet another home draw, this time a 1-1 draw with Orient. A draw at Shrewsbury was followed by an exit from the LDV Vans with a 3-1 defeat at Rochdale. However, they did finally win a game when they confidently beat Northampton 4-2.

When you’ve just beat an apparently good side convincingly, the next thing you need to do is build on that result but a 6-0 defeat at Carlisle is defiantly not building on that result. Inconsistency showed again as they beat Swansea 2-0 in the FA Cup. Another home draw came courtesy of Barnet before a 2-2 draw at Leyton Orient. The Hatters then lost the relegation battle against Mansfield via a 2-1 scoreline. Stockport again progressed in the FA Cup with a 2-0 win at Hereford. 12 goals conceded in 4 games unsurprisingly coupled 4 defeats. 1-0 and 3-0 home defeats to Bristol Rovers and Darlington were followed by a 2-0 defeat at Notts County and a 6-0 defeat at Macclesfield.

Yet another home draw was a 2-2 stalemate with Cheltenham before Brentford ended Stockport’s FA Cup run with a 3-2 victory at Edgeley Park. A 1-0 win at Rochdale was followed by another disappointing home draw, this time against fellow strugglers, Rushden. However, they did the double over Grimsby, coming from behind to win 2-1. However, a draw at Wycombe last Saturday was followed by Tuesday 1-1 draw at home to Torquay.