With 25% of the season gone the Imps have acquitted themselves well back in the Football League. The blue print of any Danny Cowley side is to consolidate in the first half of the season and kick on in the second.

We have a squad more than capable of kicking on in the second half of the season and for today’s blog I highlight the five players I believe are not just important, but entirely crucial to our chances of a (dare I say it) top seven finish.

Harry Anderson

I have no hesitation in putting Harry at the very top of this list, over and above even our on-loan Championship defender. Already this season he has battled his way into the squad and since getting there has turned in consistently good performances. As the weeks turn into months, Harry will turn from a young player into an integral part of our squad.

Harry has it all, metaphorically the world is at his feet. He is devastatingly quick which is almost a given, the pace he showed to take his goal against Forest Green was explosive. The replay seemed to be a mish-mash of a normal speed defender and a speeded up Harry. It was a crucial strike too, those are the sorts of games we need to be winning and on a miserable night after a tough journey Harry ensured we came home with all three points.

He’s as strong as an ox too, he’s stocky for a winger which would usually be at the expense of pace. He isn’t knocked off the ball easily and he doesn’t shirk a tackle either. It is unusual to find a winger that has pace and power which utterly convinces me he has a future at a much higher level than League Two. Having him tied to a three-year deal is a master stroke on Danny’s behalf because in less time than that he’ll have scouts flocking to Sincil Bank.

I can’t enthuse enough about young Harry, I haven’t been this excited about a player under the age of 21 at Lincoln City for as long as I care to remember. 

Look at both of yesterday’s goals, one a lovely bit of skill and a lay off from him, the other a lovely one two and some raw pace with a perfect end product. He’s still young, maybe we could have snatched a third had he been able to square in the second half, but that’s irrelevant. Time and time again he skins defenders and pushes into the area looking to play a ball across.

Now he’s in the first team, I don’t see him falling back to the bench. His value was highlighted yesterday in Danny’s reluctance to bring him off even after he took a knock. He works well on the left in front of Sam, but equally as well on the right too. I can’t enthuse enough about young Harry, I haven’t been this excited about a player under the age of 21 at Lincoln City for as long as I care to remember.

Matt Green

From one end of the scale to another, from a young player just starting out in the game to a seasoned professional helping inject our squad with experience and know-how. I’ve seen many comments referring to Green’s lack of goals, but those comments are missing the point. If we didn’t have Matt Green up front I suspect we’d be much lower down the table than we are, with or without his goals.

There’s a touch of the Theo Robinson about the criticism, citing a lot of running but little in the way of goals. The big difference is almost every time Matt Green touches the ball, he uses it effectively. His running, far from being indirect and occasionally wayward, is always purposeful and troubling. I’ve often referred to his hard work in the channels, but it does need highlighting as much as possible because he works harder than almost every opposition striker I’ve seen this season. He holds the ball up well, he wins his headers and he makes time and space for other strikers.

He is a key part of the jigsaw, the fact we haven’t found the other piece that fits with him yet isn’t his fault.

Had it not been for Ollie Palmer’s decision to try to get a shot off yesterday, Green could have scored a confidence building goal. That is all he needs right now, one strike to get him back on track. If anything, the red card at Stevenage upset his early season momentum but it isn’t through a lack of effort that he hasn’t scored regularly. As I pointed out yesterday, we haven’t found the right formula up top to offer the support he needs. Had we signed Sim Akinola or maybe Ollie Hawkins I think we would have gotten the absolute best out of Green, but we didn’t and we have to be happy with his tireless work rate and never-ending chasing of the ball.

He’ll be important going forward though because he is a key part of the jigsaw, the fact we haven’t found the piece that fits with him yet isn’t his fault. He’s never looked angry or frustrated with the work he does, not once has he displayed any of the sort of petulant behaviour we saw from Chris O’Grady yesterday. Green is a good pro and he remains focused on the job in hand. He’ll score goals, of that I’m absolute certain, and over the next few months his work rate will be crucial to ensuring that we consolidate ahead of the transfer window.

Alex Woodyard

One or two people had suggested Alex had been ‘off’ the last game or two, but any notion of him struggling to adapt to league football was washed away with another confident and all-action display yesterday. He cleaned up the Player of the Year awards last season, and he has remained almost entirely consistent so far this campaign.

Perhaps some of the questions have come about as he settles into a new two-man midfield set up with Michael Bostwick. I know Danny says us pundits get too bogged down in formations, but we have switched from a standard (ish) 4-4-2 to a more defence orientated 4-2-3-1 this season, and Alex has had to adjust his game slightly to work alongside Michael Bostwick. It isn’t easy for two holding midfielders to both put in eye-catching performances at the same time, but yesterday has suggested the formula may well be Bozzie advanced and Alex sat in where he featured the bulk of last season.

Leave the fancy attacking stuff to Billy Knott and let Alex concentrate on breaking up play, winning tackles and starting attacks.

That isn’t to say he’s a one-trick pony. That brace against Carlisle took us all by surprise and although a shank from the edge of the area yesterday was ‘business as usual’ when it came to goals, I think he’s offering more going forward when called upon. He was never billed as an al-round midfielder though, leave the fancy attacking stuff to Billy Knott and let Alex concentrate on breaking up play, winning tackles and starting attacks.

In this focus on five key players I’ve opted to choose Alex over Bozzie because I think it his industry and agility that will be more crucial over Bozzie’s power and physique. Alex is Scrappy-Do to Bozzie’s Scooby Do, he’s the ball of energy that just won’t quit whilst Bozzie is a slower, more imposing presence. If we’re to continue this solid start to the season we need both on form, but I feel what Alex offered last season is crucial to any team at any level, and therefore he is one of our key men this time around.

Sean Raggett

It goes without saying really doesn’t it? There is a reason Norwich have signed Raggs, because he is a bloody good centre half, and I stick by my prediction he’ll play top-flight football before his career is out. He’s a behemoth at the back, winning headers all over the place and equally as confident bringing the ball out at his feet. He is still young and whilst he’s our top defender he’ll be the apprentice once he moves to Carrow Road, that means he’ll learn and develop even more. For those of us lucky enough to have watched him every week for City, we know how good this kid can be if he works hard.

The reason he is crucial to our continued success isn’t just his ability though, it is his situation in January. Luke isn’t currently in favour and Rob Dickie might be cementing a first team spot, but he won’t lead the defence alone in the same way Raggs does. The ideal scenario sees Raggs stop with us once the window passes and lead us into the top seven as a final act of thanks for his Football League chance. However, I fear that the better he plays in these early months of the season, the less likely he is to end up staying beyond the window.

Norwich are not laden with quality defenders and if Raggett is as good as we think he is, it is in their best interests to get him back in January

Put yourself in his shoes for a minute, you’ve earned a big move to a relatively big club and you get a chance to help the side you got promoted with. Six months on and the loan expires, the big club want you there but can’t guarantee you the first team action, or the ‘small’ club want you to lead the defence for another six months. What would you do, putting aside the fact you’re a City fan? I know if it were me I’d be itching to get on those top class training pitches, work with those former Premier League coaches and those experienced international players (Klose is a Swiss international, in case you’re wondering).

Also, what are Norwich going to want? If Raggs has played well for us, aren’t they going to want him amongst their squad for the second half of the season? If they’re pushing the top seven they might figure he could be left behind if they go up, but if he’s around their squad for six months he’ll develop at a rate they can manage. It might mean a loan next season to a Championship club, but it does form part of his development. Also, they had one defender on the bench this weekend against Reading, Grant Hanley. They’re not laden with quality defenders and if Raggs is as good as we think he is, it is in their best interests to get him back in January.

That is why he is important to us, because keeping him could be the difference between top seven and top ten.

Neal Eardley

He arrived on the eve of the big kick off and was pushed straight into action thanks to injuries to our regular full-backs. He was a throw of the dice, a gamble by the manager that could have gone either way. After three injury-ravaged seasons his stock had dropped from international full back to forgotten man. Now, 12 games into the season, he is showing everyone that he is far from done.

Neal has a composure and class about him that is far better than this level. He reads the game superbly, his anticipation is first class and his decision-making is also very good. He has both aspects of being a full back down to a tee, he gets back and defends superbly but he can also push on the overlap and support the attack. His work rate is also excellent, and I’m sure Danny watches his recent displays smiling away to himself at a gamble that has paid off.

Despite three career threatening spells on the side lines, Eardley is every bit as good as the player that signed for Birmingham hoping to get back into the top flight and maybe even Chris Coleman’s international plans. We’ve seen all too-often players that have been affected by injury to a point where they’re never the same (Kevin Austin, Liam Hearn), but Eardley has come back just as strong. As a defender if you lose even a small amount of that combative edge, you’re done.

He played in the Championship play-off final of 2012 remember, a game dubbed the £200m match, and once you’ve experienced that pressure I think it stays with you.

The reason Neal is crucial to our future is his versatility across the back. He looked equally as good at left back filling in for Sam as he does in his natural right back position. He said in a press conference once ‘a full back is a full back whichever side you play on’, and whilst you and I know that at this level that isn’t strictly true, at the level Neal is used to it is. He can switch feet easily and playing on the left does not compress our width in any way. With a small squad and a budget looking to be spent on attacking options, it is vital we have players that can fill a couple of positions. Besides, a good full back is hard to find and I’m now of the impression we have three. I feel for Sean Long, he had a great start to the season, but as a young man you have to work incredibly hard to displace a former Welsh international playing at his peak age.

Sean will doubtless be learning though because Neal brings an awful lot of experience to the side, not just gained on the pitch either. I’m of the opinion that his injury hell will have taught him as much about the game as facing player such as Gareth Bale or David Silva. He has experience of the international game too, and he’s been on promoted sides, relegated sides and in a play-off losing side also. He played in the Championship play-off final of 2012 remember, a game dubbed the £200m match, and once you’ve experienced that pressure I think it stays with you. When you talk about needing experienced players, cool heads and lots of know-how, it doesn’t come much better than Neal Eardley.

He might have been a last-minute gamble, a twist of the cards with a hand of nineteen, but he’s the two we were hoping to find. The sooner we hear he’s triggered an extension and agreed to stay until the end of the season, the better.

Thanks to Graham Burrell and Lincoln City for the photos

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