Carlisle United Football Club

It'll be a tough test for the Blues in midweek as they travel to face tab

The Imps are into double figures with victories already, and have the set the piece with their attacking style of football.

A 1-0 home defeat to Crawley has been their only loss at Sincil Bank so far in league action, with Tranmere Rovers inflciting the only away defeat with a similar scoreline at the beginning of this month.

Potent going forward, they've registered three or more goals on five occasions, with their most impressive result thus far coming ten days ago, when they knocked six past Port Vale at Vale Park.

Lee Frecklington, Matt Green, Shay McCartan and Jason Shackell all have three goals each, but John Akinde will be the man to watch with five goals and three assists to his name already.

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Manager’s thoughts ...

Speaking ahead of the midweek trip, manager John Sheridan said: "Lincoln are top of the table because they've been the most consistent side, and that's the important thing in this division.

"They get the ball forward and they get men in support quickly, and it's a very effective style of play. They'll be confident, because they're at home, but we know we have players who can cause them problems.

"It'll be a good game because we want to bounce back straight away from the disappointment of Saturday's performance and result. We know we have to keep picking up points if we want to be involved at the top end, and these are the games where you have to go and perfrom.

"I've said before that I want our players to believe in themselves, because I certainly do. We've seen a number of times that we're very hard to deal with once we get going, and if we play to our strengths as a team we feel we can get a result against anyone.

"We're going there to give our fans something to cheer about, and we'll achieve that by doing things properly. As I say, Saturday wasn't acceptable, so we I'm looking for a response."

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Did You Know?

+ Lincoln hold the record for dropping out of the Football League the most times, having been demoted or relegated on five occasions - in 1908, 1911, 1920, 1987 and 2011.

+ The Imps reached the Division Three play-offs in five successive seasons between 2002 and 2007, without earning any promotions - a record for the number of successive attempts without winning a final.

+ Under the old two points for a win system, Lincoln racked up 74 points in the 1975/76 season, which is a record high.

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Head to Head

These sides have met on a total of 69 occasions over the years, with the Imps on top in terms of a return on victories. The most recent meetings have been difficult for the Blues, with only one win in the last six outings - a 1-0 home success in 2006.

Tuesday's hosts won both games last season, as they settled well having come back into the Football League ranks, with a 4-1 home victory in the corresponding fixture early in the piece last term. Alex Woodyard, Matt Rhead (2) and Billy Knott got the goals for the home side, with Reggie Lambe registering our reply. Tom Parkes was sent off to rub more salt into the wounds with just over half an hour left to play.

Watch the goals from that game here ...

The result went against Carlisle again in April when a second half goal from Matt Green was enough to take the points back to Sincil Bank. There were more woes for the Blues when Mike Jones received his marching orders in time added on.

Watch the highlights from that game here ...

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Man in the middle

Our referee for this game is Mr Neil Hair.

Neil has taken charge of nine games so far this season and has shown 27 yellow cards and three reds. 

This is his first season in the Football League, and the first time he has taken charge of a fixture involving Carlisle United.

By far his most interesting fixture so far this season was his September trip to Home Park where an early Mark Cullen goal earned the Seasiders a good away victory.

However, things boiled over in time added on and when Blackpool's Marc Bola and Donervon Daniels were both given their marching orders.

Referee – Neil Hair
Assistant Referee 1 – Christopher Ward
Assistant Referee 2 – David Plowright
Fourth Official – Ian Dudley

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Ticket information

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