Lincoln City play host to Leyton Orient on Saturday afternoon looking to extend their lengthy unbeaten streak in the third tier.
At a time when the home side occupy fourth position in the League One standings, the visitors to Sincil Bank are down in 20th place.
Match preview
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For all the talk of big-spending Birmingham City and Wrexham being the main contenders to win League One, the progress of Lincoln under Michael Skubala has gone under the radar.
Just four league defeats have been recorded since the start of 2024, with their heaviest by a 2-0 scoreline away at Blackpool and against last season's champions Portsmouth.
Lincoln currently find themselves on a six-game unbeaten run, accumulating 12 points along the way to sit within two points of second-placed Wrexham.
Although three draws have been posted in four games, two of the stalemates have been at the home of Peterborough United and Blackpool.
In midweek, 10-man Lincoln netted a 95th-minute leveller to earn a 1-1 draw at the home of the latter, ending their opponents' four-match winning streak under Steve Bruce.
As for Leyton Orient, Richie Wellens deserves credit for guiding his team off the bottom of the table after losing their opening four league games.
Since then, a total of eight points have been accumulated from five matches, with the victories in question coming away at Reading and Stockport County respectively.
The Os also held Wrexham to a goalless draw, but their four-game undefeated run came to an end in midweek when they went down 1-0 to Exeter City.
Nevertheless, despite only moving up to 20th spot, optimism is growing at Brisbane Road that they can enjoy a campaign challenging for the mid-table spots than simply looking to survive in the third tier.
Team News
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Skubala will have to make at least one change to his Lincoln XI with Adam Jackson serving a one-match ban for his sending off at Blackpool.
Tom Hamer is in line to replace him in the back three, while Tom Bayliss could be restored to the engine room in place of Conor McGrandles.
Wellens must decide whether to stick with the same Leyton Orient XI given that his team still performed well in the narrow defeat to Exeter.
Lewis Warrington may potentially drop out to accommodate the return of Sean Clare in midfield, while Jordan Graham and Sonny Perkins could be considered for their first starts in League One this campaign.
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Wickens; Hamer, O'Connor, Roughan; Darikwa, Moylan, Erhahon, Bayliss, Jefferies; Cadamarteri, Makama
Leyton Orient possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Brown, Beckles, Simpson, Currie; Ball, Clare; Agyei, Galbraith, O'Neill; Kelman
We say: Lincoln City 2-1 Leyton Orient
With Leyton Orient having only lost once in five outings, Lincoln may not have it all their own way this weekend. Nevertheless, we are backing the home side to come through with another maximum points that could see them edge into the automatic promotion spots.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
