Lincoln City manager Michael Appleton has revealed he will be missing three players ahead of this weekend’s trip to Blackpool.
Just over a year has elapsed since the Imps last travelled to Bloomfield Road in Michael’s first game in charge, where a spirited performance saw us go down 2-1, after being 2-0 down within the first 20 minutes. Much has changed since then and this weekend’s fixture sees us defending an unbeaten start to the league season, with only the best team in the world currently able to defeat the Imps.
The trip will be made without three key players, Callum Morton, Joe Walsh and defender Max Melbourne.
Morton’s injury is well-documented, he has a suspected tear between his pectoral muscle and shoulder and could be out for a couple of months, which is a huge blow. He was signed very much as a number nine to duel with Tom Hopper and he opened his account as we beat Bradford City 5-1 in the Carabao Cup, but the responsibility for pushing Tom now falls on the shoulders of new signing Brennan Johnson.
Max Melbourne is the joint second-longest serving player at the club, having joined last summer at around the same time as Jorge Grant and Aaron Lewis, and it is believed he has a knock sustained during the encounter with Liverpool. He missed the 2-0 win against Charlton Athletic at the weekend, and it means another start for the exciting Sean Roughan, with Tayo Edun the defensive cover.
The other absentee is Joe Walsh, who it is believed is nearing fitness but has been given compassionate leave this weekend. He impressed in the pre-season friendly against Scunthorpe but is yet to make a competitive start for the club.
The changes mean the line up is likely to be very similar, if not identical, to the XI that started against Charlton at the weekend. That will likely change the following week as Mansfield Town visit in the EFL Trophy, with players such as Theo Archibald, Remi Howarth, Alex Bradley, Tayo Edun and Zach Elbouzedi all likely to be in contention for some minutes.