The Imps will be focused on extending their unbeaten run to 19 games when they head to St James Park to face Exeter on Tuesday night, writes Kyle Fox.
Should Lincoln manage to avoid defeat, they will match the club record, which currently stands at 19 league games without defeat, set by Danny Cowley’s League Two title-winning side of 2018/19. Newly appointed Grecians head coach Matt Taylor and his players will be aiming to disrupt that and stop Lincoln from equalling the record. They are yet to win under him or under his predecessor Kieran Green, who stepped in as interim manager after the exit of Gary Caldwell.
Exeter have now gone five games without a win at home since beating Stevenage 3–0 on 17 January and have failed to keep a clean sheet on 10 occasions out of 17 in the league at St James Park. With their next two fixtures being Lincoln and Cardiff at home, they need to be careful not to get dragged into a relegation battle. Leyton Orient, who currently occupy 21st position, are only six points behind Exeter and also have a game in hand.
Taylor’s side have been pretty strong defensively over the course of this season, which is backed up by the fact they rank fourth for total clean sheets (11) and eighth for goals conceded per match (1.2). They are lower for some attacking metrics, ranking 17th for goals per match (1.1) and xG (39.8), 15th for shots on target per match (3.5), 21st for touches in the opposition box (643) and 22nd for big chances (58). However, they are actually bottom for big chances missed (33).
Exeter City Form
Prior to, and now in the aftermath of, Gary Caldwell’s exit to Wigan a couple of weeks ago, Exeter have really struggled for form and are without a win in their last nine matches (3L, 6D). Two of those draws were extraordinary games. One ended 2–2 away at Reading, as Exeter snatched a 94th-minute equaliser, while the other came away at Peterborough when Jayden Wareham scored an eight-minute hat-trick in a 3–3 draw. After being very resolute at home all season, the Grecians have also suffered two heavy defeats at St James Park at the hands of Rotherham (4–0) and, more recently, Bolton (5–1).
Regarding the aforementioned defensive record for Exeter, it may be slightly distorted when you look at the number of goals they have conceded in recent weeks. Over the last 12 games, they have only kept three clean sheets and have not kept one since Caldwell left. During those 12 games, they have conceded two or more goals in six matches — two of which were heavy home defeats, including the 4–0 loss to Rotherham and the 5–1 defeat to Bolton. Before that point, they had won four out of six games throughout December, with that run starting right after beating Wycombe 4–0 in the FA Cup. The only two games they didn’t win during that run were narrow defeats away at Cardiff and Bolton.
Jayden Wareham is clearly Exeter’s biggest attacking threat going into this fixture. Intriguingly, he has been caught offside more times than any other player in the division this season (37 occasions). He is Exeter’s top scorer with 19 goals and two assists in all competitions and sits joint second in the division’s scoring charts. His 16 league goals account for 40% of Exeter’s total league goals this season, and six of Exeter’s last seven league goals have come from Wareham. Ilmari Niskanen is also an obvious creative threat for the Grecians, ranking second in the league for assists with 10. Nullifying these two players could be key to paving the way for a Lincoln victory.
Speaking of victories for Lincoln, they conjured up a magnificent physical and tactical display to overtake Cardiff as the leaders of League One on Saturday. It was a momentous day in the league season, with goals from Rob Street and Dom Jefferies sealing a deserved victory. Not only did it send Lincoln top of the table, it also moved them to the top of the away results table by three points — something they will want to build on against Exeter. The Imps are the best side in the division for goals from set pieces and goals from counter-attacks, and they also rank highly for aerial duels won — areas which Exeter have struggled with this season.
Team News
Exeter are still in the midst of an injury crisis, with key players Jack Fitzwater, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Ed Turns and Johnly Yfeko all unavailable. Timur Tutuerov is now also sidelined after getting injured in the warm-up before their most recent outing against Barnsley. The only returning player for this game is defender Danny Andrew, who has been out since November.
An advantage for the visiting side is that they have been able to stay in Bath after the Cardiff game, eradicating hundreds of extra miles of travel back to Lincoln and then down to the South West again. This allows for better recovery for everyone, whereas Exeter have had to travel all the way back from Barnsley.
Lincoln could see Jack Moylan return to the starting line-up after a dead leg forced him onto the bench against Cardiff — a game in which he fortunately did not need to be used. There do not appear to be any new injury concerns for the travelling Imps.
Exeter Predicted XI
Whitworth, Sweeney, Woodhouse, McMillan, Niskanen, Rydel, Brierley, Oakes, Aitchison, Mendes, Wareham.
Previous Meetings
Lincoln’s only league defeat at home this season came at the hands of Exeter after 90 minutes of dominance from the home team. Exeter scored with only their second shot on target in the entire match to snatch victory in the 94th minute.
Prior to that, both sides have met a lot in recent years. They have faced each other 12 times since August 2017 (excluding the game in October 2025), and the record is perfectly balanced with three wins each and six draws.
The most famous victory came in May 2018 when Exeter beat Lincoln 3–1 at home in the play-offs to send themselves to Wembley. The Imps will be hopeful of gaining some revenge for the result earlier in the season, which would make the record four wins apiece.
Prediction
Exeter 0–2 Lincoln
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