Lincoln City will face Nottingham Forest in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Thursday, 12 November.
The fixture was revealed by John Percy in The Telegraph, tucked away at the end of his report on Forest’s January transfer plans. With six Imps called up for international duty and no Championship game this weekend, it gives those who have stayed with the club a chance to get a run-out before we return to league action against Wrexham.
Ethan Wheatley is one who could do with the minutes. Head coach Tom Shaw said last week that the Manchester United loanee was back in full training, but Wheatley was absent from the matchday squad at QPR.
Mason Melia is another we’d like to see, although the Tottenham Hotspur striker has played just four times for us and was still a little further away from a return in the last fitness update. If either is ready, the coaches can manage their minutes and see how they come through a game before the league resumes.
Josh Honohan is another who could also benefit. The former Shamrock Rovers defender came off the bench in our win at Bolton in August, and Thursday offers a chance for the coaching staff to see him over a longer spell at full-back.
We were due to play another Premier League side, Hull City, at their Cottingham training ground last month, but that game was called off at our request. Tom explained that suspensions had left us short and that he wanted to avoid putting extra minutes into players he needed for Burnley that weekend.
Forest come into the break on the back of their first home league win of the season. Oliver Glasner’s side beat Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground on Saturday, with Liam Delap scoring twice. There is no indication as to whether the game is at the EPC, or Forest’s Wilford Lane training ground.
Our last competitive meeting also finished 3-1 to Forest. That was an FA Cup first-round replay at the City Ground on 27 November 2007, after a 1-1 draw at Sincil Bank. Kris Commons opened the scoring, and Nathan Tyson struck twice before Jamie Forrester pulled one back for the Imps. The game was Danny Hone’s sixth game for City, but his third against a Nottingham side.
Interestingly, Chris Cohen started in midfield for Forest that night. This time, he’s one of the two men picking the Lincoln side.
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