Few would have predicted Lincoln and Stevenage to to such a big clash this weekend, but sixth meets top in a real battle of the unlikely promotion wannabes.
Stevenage have been criticised in recent seasons for their Steve Evans’ approach, but Alex Revell has refined that, and they now come as a very different prospect. Recent wins against Leyton Orient and Luton have underlined their potential, and Michael Skubala was full of praise for their growth in his pre-match press conference on Imps+.
“I think they’ve probably grown into a team that is really solid and a really good footballing team,” he said. “I think sometimes there’s a bit of badge bias, isn’t there, in football where you think, oh, Stevenage the club — and it probably happens to us sometimes. But I have huge respect for what they’ve done. Alex has done a great job there.
“You only have to look at Neil Banfield, the assistant — he’s got 300 games under Arsène Wenger. They know what they’re doing. And I think what they’ve done really well is maximised how that group plays. Watched all the games this season already. In the window, I’ve managed to watch every single game. So, yeah, they’re a really strong team. They can really hurt you.
Revell’s side are not only top, but they have a game in hand on us, and two in hand of Wimbledon and Stockport in the top five. It’s a position few felt they’d be in, but one Michael believes they have fully earned and justified.
“There’s a reason they’re top with a game in hand — it’s because they’re solid and they can score goals. So I think this season they look more knitted together than ever and it’s going to be a really tough game for us. But we think we’ve got enough to beat them on the day and we’ve got to be at our best for sure. And I think that’s what they do really well — if you’re not at your best, they beat you. So we’re going to have to be on it for sure.”
“They make it count where it counts, if that makes sense. But also they’ve grown — they’ve not made too many changes. So the group they’ve got is, you know, a few wise owls in there and know how to get wins at this level. And they’ve added a bit of quality to the group in midfield, I think, this season. So their recruitment’s been really strong for them as well.”
The game at the Bank kicks off early and sees us chasing our first win against them at home since Boxing Day 2017. Recent fixtures here have ended in a stalemate, 0-0 in January, 0-0 in March 2024, and 2-2 in February 2019.
