Midfield

DM – Liam Bridcutt

Let me ask you a genuine question. Have Lincoln City ever had a defensive midfielder as good as Liam Bridcutt? I’ve been watching since 1986 and I haven’t seen one. I can’t recall a player who dictated everything, who changed the shape and feel of the side just by being in it and if I can, it wasn’t at this level. Maybe in the early eighties someone could pick one, or from the ’76 side, but Liam Bridcutt must surely be one of the best players ever to pull on a Lincoln City shirt. Here’s a fact for you – if you, the Stacey West readers, give Liam Bridcutt a rating of 5 or 6 tomorrow, and every other player on the field gets an 8 or a 9, he will still be the Player of the Month (unless my maths are shit). He got 8.3 against Posh, 7.8 against Wimbledon, 9.1 in the home leg against Sunderland and 8.2 in the away leg. What is the saying? Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Indeed.

CM – Conor McGrandles

McGrandles has been desperately unlucky in my eyes. He was sensational through the early part of this year, lost his place as we rolled over at Charlton and has since not really claimed it back. Mind you, he helped change the second leg against Sunderland and with the threat Blackpool carry, I think we have to see him back in the starting XI this week. Of all the squad, he was the one who shone constantly when the injuries kicked in and some of the lads lost form and he’s been a key component of our late surge back into automatic contention. Also, with the threat of Ellis and Simms, we need to control the flow of the midfield, stopping balls into them and someone tenacious such as McGrandles is far better suited to doing that than anyone in the squad, other than the captain.

CM – Jorge Grant

The official Player of the Year has been quiet over the last few weeks, but he is a player always capable of turning a game. I can see the big wide spaces of Wembley being the perfect playground for him, as long as the right players make the right runs. 50-yard pings that drop out of play in the tight surroundings of Fleetwood might just hold up in the channels for pacy players to get onto, and he might find space lurking on the edge of the area too. What price on a Grant wondergoal this weekend, the perfect stage for a big game player? Obviously, there’s no doubt at all he starts and I hope he can cap off a truly wonderful season with the sort of display that has earned him so many plaudits.