Lincoln City visit Cambridge United this Saturday as the Imps look to extend their lead at the top of the SkyBet League Two table.
City go into the game off the back of their first league defeat in seven games after losing 2-1 away to Crewe Alexandra on Boxing Day.
Harry Anderson’s injury time goal wasn’t enough to haul The Imps back into the game at the Alexandra Stadium as Crewe’s Chris Porter and James Jones both found the back of the net earlier in the second half.
However, Danny Cowley’s side remained at the top of the league after the Boxing Day fixtures, with a four-point lead over MK Dons.
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With just one win in their previous six league games, The U’s are currently facing a relegation battle with just three points keeping them afloat from the drop zone.
Colin Calderwood’s side have won six league games all season, whilst also picking up five draws from their opening 24 fixtures.
Cambridge put two past Crawley Town on Boxing Day with goals from George Maris and Jabo Ibehre.
The U’s controlled the game with 57% possession, they also made a total of 16 shots on goal, double their opponents tally on the day.
United have already faced Lincoln this season when the pair met at Sincil Bank in October. The two sides couldn’t be separated with the final score finishing at 1-1.
Matt Rhead opened the scoring after six minutes, before having his strike cancelled out by Jevani Brown five minutes later.
Last six league games: DLLDLW
League position: 22nd
Manager’s comments
Cambridge's recently installed boss, Colin Calderwood spoke to the press ahead of this weekend's game and is hoping to build on his side's recent success against Crawley Town on Boxing Day.
“I don’t know so much about Lincoln but we’ll go away and we’ll start our preparation.
“Mark Bonner and Pilks (Kevin Pilkington) are well versed in it so I’ve seen bits and pieces of it.
“What they are is a winning team, they have good momentum.
“We’ve got a long way to go but I think the important thing is the disappointment for other teams that we’ve won a game.
“I think that helps. We’ve got to be a team who, in the second half of the season, produce more points than what we’ve done in the first half and that (the win against Crawley) gives us a good start.”
Previous Meetings
Prior to this season’s 1-1 draw in October, the last time the two sides met was last season when the U’s hosted Lincoln City at Abbey Stadium in February.
The game finished goalless with both side’s sharing the point. The same result happened in the reverse fixture earlier on in the season at Sincil Bank.
Lincoln picked up three points against Cambridge in 2005 with a 2-1 win over the U’s. Simon Yeo and Gary Taylor-Fletcher scored the goals for City in front of a crowd of 4,672. The Imps also won their away fixture that season with Francis Green scoring the only goal of the game past England international, John Ruddy.
One to Watch – Jevani Brown
Despite playing for MK Dons and Peterborough United as a youngster, Jevani Brown came through the Non-League system getting his big break in 2017 with Cambridge United following interest from a number of Football League clubs.
The 24-year-old played for a number of clubs such as Barton Rovers, Kettering Town and Stamford between 2014 and 2016.
In January 2017, Brown signed for St Neots Town where he went on to score 18 goals in 17 games.
His impressive form for Town was rewarded with a trial at Championship side Birmingham City. However, the forward went on to sign a two-year deal with Cambridge United in August 2017.
Brown scored his first goal in the Football League during Cambridge’s 2-1 win over Chesterfield in October 2017. This season the forward has scored five goals in all competitions, as well as picking up seven assists in 25 games.