The Imps kick off a brand-new season with a short cross-country trip to Burton, writes Tom Morton.
As always, there are a lot of changes, not least the kick-off time courtesy of a new TV rights deal. More importantly, though, are the new faces – of which there will be quite a few at the Pirelli Stadium this weekend! Not only are several of our nine signings likely to start, but we will also see more of last season’s irregulars – if the final pre-season game was anything to go by. That pales compared to Burton, who have racked up twenty incoming players to their 24/25 squad.
This is all thanks to the investment of new owners Nordic Football Group, who took over in June. It’s not surprising they’ve looked to change the squad significantly – after half a decade of mid-table performances, the Brewers scraped survival by two points last year.
One person who will be treading familiar turf is Tom Hamer. He spent three years with Burton before being nabbed by us for an undisclosed fee. Hamer seems a great capture; rated by the Brewers, he looked confident fitting into our defensive unit during the final pre-season game.
As for our opponents, the pick of their new signings has to be Billy Bodin. The 32-year-old joined them from Oxford, having won promotion last season and having ample experience in League One and Championship. They also picked up Jack Armer from last season’s bottom club Carlisle. It’s far from a signature signing, but he looked solid at the back for the Blues last year.
In fact, aside from Bodin, most of Burton’s incoming this year are from lower down the pyramid. With a mix of experience and young talent, Nordic is clearly looking for a clean squad to get into the new season.
It’s been a rough few seasons against the Brewers. In 22/23, we lost both games to them, and in October, our home fixture saw Mandriou sent off for a dangerous tackle, and the visitors nabbed a late winner. The reverse fixture saw a controversial sending-off for Mitchell, but it was the first win of our excellent second half of the season. It also saw the start of the four-goal run that earned Hackett Player of the Month for February.
With all the changes, it is hard to say how Burton will turn up tactically on Saturday, and I am not even going to attempt to guess a lineup. However, they have been a rough-and-tumble team for a couple of seasons, with games feeling more like cage fights. They are certainly not the team I relish for an opening fixture, but we can put that to bed with a solid performance.
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