Expect to see: Matt Rhead
If I had to make one guess, one little stab in the dark that I’d be willing to put my house on, it would be on the big man starting tonight’s game.
I spoke to him after the last Port Vale match and he ranked not scoring there as being the same as not scoring at Wembley. he’s a Stoke fan and there’s no way he’d miss this game, not if he can help it.
Being gifted this tie early means he might finally make that dream come true and in doing so, make Danny’s life easier for our subsequent league clash later in the season.
Besides, John Akinde is sure to be rested ahead of the big match this weekend meaning Rheady will be our focal point.
Don’t expect: The same fluid performance as Saturday
There’s a couple of reasons for this. Away from home I think we tend to be more resilient, we play of football at Sincil Bank and we fight our corner away from home. Traditionally, the hosts have to come out and break you down, which might be the case tonight. Of course, Danny always goes out to win so we’ll be on the offensive too, but maybe not as fluidly as we were Saturday.
There’s also the Rhead factor, when he’s on the field we tend to find the diagonal ball in to him and at this stage of his Imps career, I can’t see Danny altering that significantly.
Finally, a relatively new set up will see different players in the roles and I’d be leaning towards a less convincing but hard-fought win than a free-flowing thrashing.
Has Joan Luque got international clearance yet?
Well Gary, it’s plain to see that despite your “inside track”, in reality your predictions are as thin as those of the rest of us! Only Danny and Nicky Cowley know what formation and players will be selected . But hey, keep getting the predictions wrong please, we are all loving this free scoring start to the season and long may it last!
3 at the back with Shackell starting? check
Crookes and Luque playing at some point? Nope (I was surprised by that too, Luque’s keep-it-off-the-ground passing game with Andrade had us enthralled before the game, Luque won and has talent in spades)
Not a free-flowing thrashing? Nope. Pett was immense, yet may not start on Saturday.
Bloody hell, we were good. And all with Bossie, Eardley and Vickers at home with their stamp collections or whatever they do in their free time.