Lincoln City resisted a big-money bid for Rob Street this summer – and today, he’s set to face the club that tried to sign him.
The forward struck a goal against Chelsea in the League Cup, and now looks likely to start when the Imps travel to London Road to face Peterborough United.
Street’s Summer Saga
Posh reportedly pushed hard to land Street in the transfer window, but instead turned to Harry Leonard, who is yet to find the net. Street, meanwhile, has been making headlines at Sincil Bank, both with his goals and his energetic displays out wide.
Imps boss Michael Skubala praised his performance against Chelsea in his pre-match press conference.
“He always looked like he was going to score, and that’s the main thing. He might not have, but he always looked threatening and capable of scoring at any point because of his quality and speed. It was a great one to get against Chelsea in the cup.”
Mainly, City have deployed Street on the right, where he has delivered goals but also picked up a red card. His favoured position is down the middle, where he bagged 12 in half a season with Doncaster, but our squad makes that difficult. With James Collins, Freddie Draper, and Justin Obikwu also competing for minutes, opportunities are spread across the frontline.
Street took his chance on Tuesday, and has never disappointed in the middle.
“Whenever we’ve played him as a nine he’s looked good,” added Skubala. “Obviously with Collo in the building, Freddie, and now Justin, we’ve got so many options.”
Peterborough were believed to have offered more than £1 million, a sum similar to what the Imps banked for Jovon Makama. With income from Ethan Erhahon, Ethan Hamilton and Sean Roughan, our cash flow looks good, and there was no pressure to sell Street.
The money would have been nice, but it came late in the window and Skubala was clear that keeping Street was the priority.
“We know what he’s about and that’s why we wanted to keep him here in the window. We think he’s got more development, more to offer.
“The good thing about the group at the moment is they’re all chipping in with goals. Housey (Ben House) has scored a few, Collo’s obviously scoring, Justin’s got a goal, Freddie’s got a goal, and now Rob’s got his.”
Street is now in line to start on Saturday as City aim for their first victory over Peterborough since Ryan Amoo’s memorable double back in 2006.
It would be nice to get back to the form of the late seventies and three wins on the spin at Posh, 2-1 (Graham and Harding) in April 1977, 1-0 (Harding) in February 1978 and a surprise 1-0 (Watson) in December 1978, not long after Colin Murphy took charge.