City travel to Crawley Town tomorrow, hoping to reach the third round of the FA Cup for the first time since a trip to Everton in the 2018/19 season.
Back then, we had two lovely home times against Carlisle and Northampton Town, but our route to a possible big tie this season is more convoluted. A trip to Chesham was steeped in FA Cup magic, but a journey to Crawley is anything but. Even with our deep squad, the Saturday/Tuesday schedule is playing havoc with fitness, which is why news of returning players is good.
In his press conference yesterday, Michael Skubala gave updates on four key players, a couple of whom may play a part in the clash tomorrow. However, the caveat is the Imps are carrying a couple of knocks from Tuesday’s defeat in Wales.
“(We have) a couple of knocks, so we’ll see how they are, but hopefully, they’ll get through it and be in contention,” said Michael. “With games so thick and fast, Saturday, Tuesday, for the next few weeks, that’s what’s going to happen. That’s why we need a squad.”
Two players who have not been in the squad of late are Reeco Hackett and Tyler Walker. Reeco has been out since his stint with St Lucia in the international break, while Tyler has appeared once for the Imps since his injury in September 2023. It seems both are now nearing contention.
“Reeco is back on the grass with the team today. Tyler is back with the team fully, but probably a bit further off than Reeco. Still going to have to be with us for quite a few weeks before he’s fully back in, and the rest is the same.”
The game should see the return of our top scorer in the league, Ben House, who sat out the Wrexham defeat with a suspension. However, that is also touch and go, as House has an illness.
“He’s ill,” confirmed Michael. “He’s struggling a bit—flu going around the camp as well. Not an injury, but illness as well.”
In North Wales, Tendayi Darikwa played on the right side of the defence, with Lewis Montsma missing and Tom Hamer out until Christmas. Adam Jackson did return, albeit on the bench, and while he is back in contention, a start might be too far away for him.
“(He is) a bit short still for a start, but we’ll see. We’re still trying to work him back over the next couple of weeks, so that (inclusion at Wrexham) was more of a precautionary decision—if we needed him late on in the game, could we risk him as a centre half? But he’s getting closer, ever closer to being fully back.”
The game offers the Imps a chance for revenge after being thrashed 3-0 at Crawley earlier in the season. Manager Rob Elliott has used the Imps win as a springboard of sorts. Prior to beating us, they’d lost seven out of seven, but in the seven since beating us, they’ve only lost twice, one of those games coming against Wycombe. They’ve avoided defeat against Huddersfield and even beat Rotherham, results which have seen them climb out of the bottom four.
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