Match Preview: Burton Albion VS Lincoln City
Lincoln City will begin their 2024/25 Sky Bet EFL League One campaign on Saturday with a trip to Burton Albion.
Michael Skubala’s side travel to the Pirelli Stadium looking for three points to start the new campaign after a heartbreaking end to 2023/24, which saw the club miss out on the playoffs on the final day of the season. Having made ten signings, City will be looking to be competing at the business end once again.
City rounded out pre-season on Saturday with a victory against Arsenal U21. Despite going a goal down, the Imps came out on top with goals coming from Lewis Montsma and Ben House.
The record over the last few years isn’t great reading for the Imps. Last season saw a 3-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers, with the two years prior ending in draws to Exeter City and Gillingham. You have to go back three years to find an opening day win for City, it came against Oxford United – Michael Appleton’s side won 2-0 with goals coming from Adam Jackson and Anthony Scully.
There could be a number of debuts on Saturday. George Wickens will be in line to start as will Tendayi Darikwa, while it’s likely we see Tom Bayliss and JJ McKiernan at some point too. Rob Street will be in contention as will former Brewer Tom Hamer and new addition Dom Jefferies.
Fixture Details
Lincoln City face Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday 10th August, with a kick off time of 17:30 BST. The game kicks off later, albeit in line with the rest of the division, due to a Sky Sports coverage, with the match available on a new service called Sky Sports +.
Team News
Sean Roughan could return for the trip to Burton after missing the last pre-season outing against Arsenal. Skubala issued an update on the defender when speaking to BBC Radio Lincolnshire earlier in the week.
He said: “It’s precautionary [Sean not playing] – players pick up little niggles sometimes through pre-season. That’s natural and that’s why we don’t push them too hard, too soon. Sean will be back on the grass soon next week and hopefully we’ve protected him to be selected for Burton.”
Tyler Walker will miss out with his medium/long term injury while it’s unlikely Conor McGrandles plays after not being seen in pre-season for quite a while.
Montsma could be set for a return to competitive action for City. It would mark his first appearance since March 2023 and just his ninth since January 2022. The defender will most likely only make the bench due to the time he’s had on the sidelines but it’s sure to be a great moment when he does get back on the pitch.
Zane Okoro has been featuring throughout pre-season but it’s unlikely he’ll travel with the first team with a squad of 18 for Saturday’s game.
Reeco Hackett probably won’t be ready, while Jovon Makama could be in line for a start after an impressive pre-season that saw him score three goals – the most in the squad.
Burton Albion
Mark Robinson was named as head coach at Burton in June, and the former Chelsea development squad manager hasn’t taken long to get stuck into business with the Brewers, overhauling the squad.
Burton have built a good squad – Danilo Orsi has potential to be great at League One level while Elliot Watt and Charlie Webster certainly have the attributes to be good players for their new club. Tomas Kalinauskas seems to be their danger man. The Lithuanian left winger joined from Dutch side FC Den Bosch in early July.
Hamer will return to his former club, hoping to get one over on the team he appeared almost 150 times for. There aren’t any current Burton players that have played for the Imps before.
Head-to-head
City’s 1-0 win at the Pirelli Stadium last season was a first win against Burton since September 2021, losing the previous four outings.
In the last fixture against Burton, Reeco Hackett scored a winner before City saw the game out with 10 men due to Alex Mitchell’s dismal. The reverse fixture in October was Mark Kennedy’s last as City boss, with the Irishman being dismissed just a few days later.
TJ Eyoma scored his first professional goal at the Pirelli Stadium back in 2021, while Tom Hopper opened his Imps account in a fixture against the Brewers at Sincil Bank.
