Ex Imps boss cautious about the club's chances

Former Lincoln City manager Peter Jackson has cautiously warned that the amount of games in hand that City have might ultimately prove to be the downfall in the relegation battle. Jackson appeared on the "Late Kick Off" show on the BBC with Dean Windass.

Jackson became Imps manager back in 2007 when City were laying bottom of the Football League. His pure enthusiasm won a lot of fans over and he guided the Imps to a very respectable 15th, not bad for a team that only had eight points up until November 24th.

He was the man that Lincoln needed at that time and his personality was a true force, not even allowing cancer to bring his spirits down.

However, Peter's downfall started in the summer of 2008 when his enthusiasm saw him declare his squad as "The Envy of League Two," a squad that would eventually finish 13th, then again, by today's standards that is heavy success.

With a restricted budget, Jackson struggled to bring in quality players in the summer of 2009 and was sacked after less than a month of the season. Chris Sutton has been and gone since then and the Imps now have Steve Tilson in charge, whom despite an improved attacking presence, hasn't been able to guide the Imps away from the relegation battle, mainly due to not playing at all in December. It was those games in hand which saw Jackson become sceptical about City's promotion chances.

"Lincoln had the relegation battle and the season I took over they were bottom of the League and we managed to pull away from it," he stated whilst on the BBC show "Late Kick Off"....a generally more factually accurate show than the Football League Show. "This season they've just been inconsistent, they've got games in hand but that could become a hinderence later on when the games are starting to build up, as they haven't got the biggest squad in League Two."

Unlike the pre-season to the 2008/9 season, Peter was however realistic with regards to the size of Lincoln and their fanbase. "They'll never get 20-30,000 in Lincoln but Lincoln are a passionate little club with a hardcore, little fanbase. I'd like Lincoln to do well as they stuck with me throughout my illness."

Lincoln will more out of the relegation zone if they win at Cheltenham Town on Tuesday.