City returned to winning ways last weekend with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Charlton in a match of many corners but very few chances. It’s a different sort of challenge for Gary Caldwell’s side this Saturday – live on Sky against a side firmly in the promotion mix and, thanks to the absurd rules around international call-ups, missing three key players. It was bad enough that City would have to make do without guaranteed starters Ilmari Niskanen and Josh Magennis, but Kamari Doyle’s late call to the England U20s should have given City scope to postpone Saturday’s fixture before the EFL flatly refused due to a five-day rule. Caldwell will need to further shuffle his pack therefore – having come off the bench in the last three matches Demetri Mitchell may be considered fit enough to start, but if not Vincent Harper is now available, or failing that Ben Purrington could move out to the flank with Jack Fitzwater starting. Sonny Cox or Jay Bird will vie for the Magennis spot, while Reece Cole should be fit having failed to make the squad against Charlton. Kevin McDonald has returned to the club on a short-term deal and may find himself on the bench.
A club that has tended to go under the radar in League One since their return to this division after a lengthy spell in non-league, Lincoln appear to have been transformed into genuine promotion contenders under Michael Skubala. Having narrowly missed out on the playoffs following a surging second half of the season last time, Skubala appears to have coped well with the loss of key personnel to build a side capable of going further than last season’s agonising 6th place finish. The Imps currently lie in 5th place in the table, although the madness of the League One table is such this season that a defeat on Saturday will see them drop below City who are currently 11th. Unlike City, Lincoln were in action in midweek, winning 5-0 against Manchester City’s youngsters in the EFL Trophy, but as is usually the case in this competition Skubala took the opportunity to rest a number of his players so they should be fresh for Saturday. Like with City the goals have been spread around amongst the Lincoln players, with Ben House leading the way in the league with four goals – Bailey “son of Danny” Cadamarteri has five in all competitions including three in the league.
City have failed to win in the last three home matches against Lincoln since the playoff semi final victory in 2018 – last season’s match came during City’s wretched spell late in 2023 and, for once during that run, City avoided defeat – Smith’s first half opener for the visitors cancelled out late on by Trevitt in a 1-1 draw. The return was a battle of two in-form sides and finished 1-0 to the hosts through their loanee Joe Taylor, one of ten goals in just 19 matches. That win extended Lincoln’s lead in league head to heads to 28-20, with 18 matches finishing level.
The match officials for this game will be:-
Referee: Thomas Parsons
Assistant Referees: Declan O’Shea and Sam Ogles
Fourth Official: Ben Atkinson
This will be the first Exeter City game that Thomas Parsons has taken charge of.
This game kicks off at 12:30pm and will be shown on Sky Sports+.
Interview with Gary Caldwell
Interview with Demi Mitchell
