The Imps travel to Stockport this weekend, our third Boxing Day away trip in four years.
December 26th has not been kind to us of late. We have only won twice on Boxing Day in the last ten years and have not won away on Boxing Day since beating Boston, via a Paul Mayo goal, in 2003.
That record is certainly going to be a tough one to better this weekend, as we come up against a Stockport side who were many pundits’ favourites for promotion last season. They did not make it, but this campaign were again expected to be challenging.
They are below us, but were arguably one of the best sides at home last season, beating us 3-2 in a thriller. Will that be the case on Boxing Day? Michael Skubala thinks it will be a big challenge.
“I think Stockport are a great team with a really good manager,” he said in his pre-match press conference.
“What I like about them is they know who they are. They are different to a lot of teams in League One and they do not try to copy others, they have their own style.
“They are really tough to play against and quite adaptable, in some ways similar to us.”
In recent weeks, Stockport have dropped off, but last weekend saw a certain player return and, immediately, an upturn in fortunes.
“They have had a small dip in form but Ollie Norwood comes back in and they get a win, so they have quality returning. They are always strong at home and it was a tough place last season.
“We will have to be right at it. That is the challenge of League One. Every game is worth three points and you can win any game, but if you are not on it you can also get beaten. It is relentless because of the level of competition.”
Michael also addressed the notion of it being an easy league. We are second with the lowest points tally of any side sitting one place from the top at this stage in the last decade, but does that make it easier?
“Some say it is an easy league, maybe because Birmingham are not in it, but I think it is harder,” said Michael. “You just have to keep churning out points. Even teams at the bottom are still picking points up, so we have to focus on ourselves.”
We will be looking for our first win at Stockport since Ashley Grimes bagged a hat-trick back in 2011, in a season which saw both clubs relegated from the Football League.