PREVIEW: Swindon Town v Lincoln City

SWINDON TOWN welcome League Two leaders Lincoln City to the County Ground tomorrow afternoon as Richie Wellens aims to make it back-to-back wins for the Wiltshire side. Total Sport Swindon’s Ryan Walker previews the fixture.

Coming from behind to beat relegation battlers Macclesfield last weekend, Swindon will be in for their biggest test of the season yet as pacesetters Lincoln travel to Swindon seeking to continue their charge for automatic promotion. 

Inflicting Swindon’s first loss of the season in a 4-1 drumming back in August, Lincoln will be looking to do the double over Town for the first time in the history of the fixture spanning back to 1934.

With twelve positions and 15 points separating league leaders Lincoln from strugglers Swindon, the away side will travel to SN1 confident of earning their 16th win of the season. 

However, just one win in their last three league games combined with a FA Cup defeat to Premiership side Everton last weekend give Swindon a shimmer of hope. 

A difficult run of fixtures over the festive period has seen Swindon earn just nine points from a possible twenty-one on offer. But victory in their last game provides the club with a foundation to now build on. 

A busy transfer window for Swindon has seen manager Richie Wellens complete three loan signings so far with Ben House, Canice Carroll, and left-back Ali Koiki joining on-loan from Burnley yesterday. 

And Town fans will be hoping that an influx of players will boost their team’s chances against a formidable opposition. Having scored 45 league goals already this season, compared to Towns 29, it’s clear that Lincoln manager Danny Cowley sets his side up to attack from the opening whistle, meaning that a new-look Swindon defence will have to be at their best throughout to stand any chance of maintaining a clean sheet. 

Striker John Akinde will be Lincoln’s biggest threat as the 29-year-old leads the scoring charts for the visitors having found the back of the net eleven times already this season. Whilst, in contrast, it’s difficult to see where the goals will come from for the Robins. Added pressure will be put on Swindon’s frontmen after the termination of Elijah Adebayo’s loan move and new boy Ben House will be hoping to make an instant impact on his home debut. 

Speaking in the build-up to tomorrows match, Richie Wellens stated that Swindon are a ‘match for anyone’ when playing their best football, and the players must now back-up their managers praise with a big performance.

Score prediction: 1-3