City one good result away from safety

By Nathan Jackson
April 10 2008

Lincoln City are just one game away from safety and the Imps will certainly fancy their chances against a team that has lost 71% of their games since an undeserved win at Sincil Bank back in November. Lincoln need a win to guarantee safety but a point will more than likely see us safe, but Chester will also want to take their own step towards safety.

This is the chance that Lincoln fans have been waiting for all season. A win on Saturday guarantees safety for the Imps and we have a great chance against a side who have 20 of their 28 games since a very controversial win at Sincil Bank. However, Mansfield failing to win would mean that the Imps would be guaranteed to stay up even if we lose 20-0 at the Saunders Honda Stadium.

In my opinion Lincoln are lucky to be at this point. Lincoln City have been a bit rubbish since Peter Jackson went for his cancer treatment and have been thrashed by Barnet, Chesterfield and Peterborough. I firmly believe that if Jackson had managed this side for the past few weeks then we'd have been safe at least 2 weeks ago.

Thankfully this season will be over in little over 3 weeks and quite frankly I can't wait. I could count on one hand the amount of truly decent performances we've had and if this had been any other season then we'd have gone down. I've never looked forward to an off-season so much.

However, the first of those four games is against a team that is the seemingly the embodiment of disappointment. It takes a long time to get there, you get quite bored along the way and then you get there and you wish you hadn't bothered. I'm not going to lie, I hate going to Chester City, it's a bland little ground with virtually no atmosphere and the games played there are as about as exciting as watching a blinking contest.

The game Sincil Bank was one of the most one sided affairs seen in recent times. It was Peter Jackson's first game in charge and yet an unbelievable refereeing decision gave Chester a victory with one of their only attacks on goal. However, the form of both sides has generally changed since then as the Imps have pulled away from danger whilst Chester have slowly started moving towards the drop zone.

City have no new injury worries heading into the game and it will more than likely be the same starting 11 that asked MK Dons some serious questions last week.

The means Marriott will more than likely start in goal in what could potentially be his penultimate away trip with the Imps. Ridley, Croft and Moses also have that possibility laying ahead of them and they will all more than likely be joined by Beevers. If Brown replaces Beevers there is a possibility that not a single one of the back 5 will be here next season.

N'Guessan, Freck, Clarke and Dodds will more than likely be the midfielders with Forrester and Wright up front.

For our lowdown on Chester City this season, please click here.