Lincoln City are set to face Premier League side Hull City in a behind-closed-doors friendly today, offering an opportunity to get valuable minutes into players outside our regular starting XI.
Hull Live report that the game will take place at the Tigers’ Cottingham training ground, with our hosts looking to build fitness among their first-team squad ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Brentford. Hopefully, our team bus can get down their rat run of a road to the training ground.
For the Imps, the fixture follows Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Millwall, where we ended a run of three successive Championship defeats but were left frustrated after surrendering a two-goal lead. With competition for places and players looking to build fitness, today’s game could give several members of the squad a chance to stake a claim for greater involvement.
With that in mind, who could get the nod for City? We pick our XI for the encounter.
Joe Gauci
One would imagine Gauci, on loan from Aston Villa, will play. He’s back up to Wickens, and there is little indication he’ll dislodge him, but giving him minutes in a warm up game seems the obvious outcome.
Josh Honohan
Josh Honohan is quickly becoming the forgotten man of Lincoln City. We imagine he is fully fit, but minutes are harder to come by than a rational Facebook debate on politics.
Josh hasn’t played a lot of football, and while there is surely still a player there, he needs minutes. With the winter window on the horizon, it’s likely we’ll hope to get him fully fit and firing, possibly for a temporary move.
Callum Elder
I’ll suggest Callum Elder at left centre back. I really like Elder, and if we are playing a strong XI, I’d imagine a swap between him and Reach at some point fairly early on. He only played ten minutes on Saturday; Reach didn’t feature against West Ham, so it would make sense to spread the load across the two.
Tom Hamer
The recipient of the quickest red card in Lincoln City history (checked and verified) is sure to play. He’s coming back from injury, and got three minutes on his full return. His two-match ban means he won’t feature against Burnley, so expect a full 90, if it is a 90-minute game, from Tom.
Also, has anyone noticed how the anger from those two reds has subsided a little? I have. It’s moved on, and my love for Tom and Connor has flooded back.
Charlie Parks
No non-league loan as yet for Charlie, but one would imagine it is in the post. I’d put money on him being involved on some level this afternoon, perhaps as a starter to be rotated with Ryley Towler later on, a player who hasn’t had a lot of minutes. Deji is an option as well, as he won’t get any minutes against Burnley this weekend.
Tom Bayliss
I wonder if Tom might get a run out. Of the four midfielders, he is the one with the fewest minutes over the last two matches (17), shortly followed by McGrandles. I wonder if perhaps they might be rotated to give Conor some minutes ahead of Burnley. The big question is, does the Scot get a recall on Saturday?
Either way, I would expect to see Tom feature this afternoon. Or hear about it, obviously not actually see it.
Donald Inyama
I have a feeling Donald might travel with the first team. My gut feeling is Conor sits out Saturday at first, so we start with Varfolomeev and Konak, both excellent at the weekend. If we do, we might not give them minutes against Hull: they both completed 90 against Millwall, Ivan got 73 against West Ham, and Yunus got half an hour or so.
I suspect they’ll be rested this afternoon, meaning Donald travels.
Ethan Wheatley
If the injury that kept him off the bench against Sheffield United has subsided, then Ethan has to play. I said this little collection of seven matches was vital for the loan players, and three matches in, we’ve still not seen him. This weekend, with Freddie out, there is surely a desire to shuffle the front line a bit, and that means an opening for a fit Ethan Wheatley.
It has to happen soon: first team minutes are surely at a ‘now or never’ point when it comes to recalls, and if he is fit, which we suspect he is, then he has to feature.
Tanto Olaofe
Six games, one start, one goal, that’s Tanto in a Lincoln City shirt. His last outing came against Blackburn, coinciding almost exactly with Chio Ogbene’s arrival, which has limited Tanto’s options. With a space in the forward line due, Tanto moves a step closer to the XI. Not into the XI, in my opinion, but a step closer.
You know what that means? Yep, an outing against Hull. I’ve picked a 4-2-3-1, which puts him in the three behind the striker, where I expect he’d play were he to come on.
Mason Melia
Am I being hopeful? We know Melia has been injured since the break and the noise around him has been limited, but I do wonder if this friendly is a way of getting some minutes into his legs at a slightly lesser pace? He’s another in danger of a recall, in my opinion, and it would be a huge shame as he feels like a difference maker.
I’m hoping this afternoon sees him get minutes and a pathway to maybe seeing him in a Lincoln shirt before QPR concludes this tough little spell.
Mikkel Ladefoged
Chris and Tom may have an issue this weekend. We paid millions for Mikkel, and yet we’ve seen him used sparingly. Is he up to speed for the Championship? It’s a big step up, and if he isn’t, then dropping him into a crucial home game, a game in which a win would help move us away from the bottom three, could be tricky. Of course, not playing a multi-million-pound signing when there is a space in his position would also be a surprise.
Damned if you do, etc. One thing is for certain – he leads the line in Cottingham.
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