Ryley Towler passed 50 appearances for Lincoln City this week, turning out against Middlesbrough in our season opener.

He is the first to hit a milestone this season, but who else might join him? In fairness, a new signing could make 50 appearances, although bear in mind that if we were to exit both cups in the next round, we’d only play 47 more matches this season.

That does cut down on the potential for players to hit milestones, but we do have a handful of players looking at 200, 150, 100 and 50 appearances.

200 appearances

Conor McGrandles – 198

Two needed to hit 200

He’s like Kaka and Rodri all rolled into one. He’ll meg £6m attackers in his own area, and he’ll chase players down 100 yards to make a tackle. He was cast aside by Charlton, bizarrely, and he came back home. This is home now – he’s made more appearances for us than for MK Dons, Falkirk, Norwich City and Charlton combined.

All being well, he’ll hit 200 at Bolton. He’s already above Matt Rhead (196) and Paul Mayo (195) and is set to reel in Trevor Peake (202) and Stuart Bimson (201).

Ben House – 156

44 needed to hit 200

Ben surpassed 150 last season, so he would need to be ever-present, more or less, to hit the 200. With a minimum of 47 games to go, he could only miss two if he were to hit the 200, but he has done 44 in two of his four full seasons here, so you never know.

His 156 appearances mean he’s level with Matt Carmichael, and turning out on Saturday will see him draw level with Simon Yeo.

Adam Jackson – 178

22 needed to hit 200

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing Adam Jackson reach his 200 appearances. Okay, maybe staying up would, but the likeable defender has been a battler for us, coming back from injury time and again, battling multiple concussions and playing a major role in the League One years. He was the only player to kick off against Oxford in 2020 and still be a squad member, without leaving, as we won the title.

It’s just not likely to happen. With Andrei Coubis itching to get in the team, Towler straddling the first team in a three and the bench when we play a four, and Sonny Bradley to come back, Jacko is likely fourth in line to dethrone Deji or Tom Hamer.

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