The Imps have a second date with Braintree

Weather permitting Lincoln City will take on Braintree in the re-arranged fixture from the previous weekend on Tuesday. The team haven't played since the away defeat to Kettering on the 28th of January. Since that date there have been a few new signings for manager David Holdsworth.

These new signings, like the rest of the team have been kicking their heels waiting for the chance to prove their worth to the fans. We can only hope that the time has been well spent on the training ground working on integrating the new signings into the match day squad. The break could be a blessing in disguise for a side that has used so many players this season.

Braintree have had a fantastic season and currently lie in 13th place, a comfortable twelve points ahead of ourselves. Let us not forget that they are a part time team, a side that has stuck to playing basic, or effective football, depending on your view point. As they are a part time team some of their players will be working in the run up to this fixture and the travel up North, this should help the Imps, but as we know this is rarely the case for the side over the past season.

 Jefferson Louis, Louis Almond, Peter Bore and Nialle Rodney will all be looking to make their débuts for the Imps this Tuesday night. Louis should have no problem linking up with Pacquette in attack , they are cousins and have also played together previously in their well travelled careers.

Due to the large gap between fixtures for both sides recent form does go out of the window a bit, the Imps still remain very inconsistent and have really struggled to get a good run of games going at any point this season, with a second successive relegation still a strong possibility they will need to start picking up some hard points soon.

I am going to predict a home win for the Imps, the long travel for a side that will have players working before the fixture will not be ideal preparation and as a result I think they will battle hard but fall just short. It will be close but I think a narrow 1-0 home win is in order to get the Imps some distance from the relegation places.