Darlo vs Lincoln.....a goalfest isn't expected.

There isn't a lot of promise of a high scoring game when Lincoln City travel to Darlington on Tuesday evening. The two clubs have managed just 35 goals between them in a combined 52 League games, although both sides have recorded a victory over the other already this season.

Before January 19^th, this game looked like a foregone conclusion. A Darlington side who had only won two games all season were looking up against it, but a quick-fire brace of victories against Rotherham United has made people realise that Darlington might not be dead yet. It'll still take a minor miracle for the Quakers to stay up, but City mustn't get complacent and just expect a win, especially as the Imps have already lost once at Darlington this season.

It will certainly be a tricky test for the Imps after our revival hit the rails, losing our last three games after winning the previous three. That's the level of inconsistency that the Imps have suffered since Sutton took charge. Sutton's League record since taking over is won five, drawn four and lost nine, in other words, he's lost half of the League games he's had in charge of us and won less than a third. It will probably be enough to keep us in the division beyond this season, but we'll certainly be in the thick of it again next season if we don't find a goalscorer.

Both sides are in the bottom group of scorers, with Darlington the lowest scorers in the top six divisions in the country. It bodes well for City in one sense as they will be hoping for their first clean sheet in nine games, the last being a 0-0 draw with Crewe on December 5^th. Darlington on the other hand have only kept a clean sheet twice all season, the last being on November 14^th and the other being against City in the JP Trophy.

Chris Herd will have a fitness test ahead of the game following a knock against Chesterfield. Adam Watts also failed a fitness test ahead of the aforementioned game, and will probably also have another test before the game at Darlington.

Clark Keltie will also be hoping to appear against his former club.

OUR EXPECTED CITY STARTING LINE UP
	Burch will be aiming for just his second ever clean sheet against Darlington whilst wearing an Imps shirt.Assuming that Burch does start, he will be playing in his 91st professional match.
	After making his 100th appearance for the club against Chesterfield, Green will almost certainly start.
	Although he scored what could easily go down as an own goal, Moses also scored a great goal at the right end. With Nathan Baker still injured, Swaibu will almost certainly stay in the starting XI against Darlington.
	The defender made a return to the starting line up on Saturday following the late failure of a fitness test from Adam Watts. With Watts still not 100%, Hone is likely to start again against a side who were apparantly keen on signing him a few months ago.
	Anderson is now the undoubted first choice left back at the club, probably helped by the fact there are no other left sided defenders currently in first team contention.
	Despite joining City in 2005, the 3-0 win over Darlington earlier in the season was the first time Kerr has tasted victory against the Quakers whilst at Sincil Bank.
	Hughton showed his temper for the first time against Chesterfield and was substituted off within seconds. However, there isn't one player at Sincil Bank who has improved as much throughout the season, and he should find himself starting.
	Sutton seems to like Clarke and with Chris Herd likely to miss out through a groin injury, Clarke could easily find himself in the starting XI again. Clarke played his 65th game for the club against Chesterfield.
	<--- That's Brian Gilmour by the way, no player image has been created yet.  Gilmour has improved a lot in recent weeks and his inclusion in the first team on a regular basis saw an improved run of form. The only question will be if he plays in a 5 man midfield or starts up front with the striker.
	<---Delroy Facey Delroy will be hoping for just his second goalin an Imps shirt. After several appearances where he could best be described as anonymous, hee could be losing any chance he had of getting a permanent deal.
	<---Steven Lennon Lennon impressed when coming off of the bench against Chesterfield, including come close to scoring on a few occasions. He's hopefully done enough to encourage Sutton to give him a start.

City's 3-0 victory on September 5th 2009 was the first win in any competition that the Imps had enjoyed over the Quakers since a win of the same scoreline on November 20th 2004.

Those were the only two victories City achieved over the Quakers in the last 10 years, compared to ten wins to Darlington. Darlington wins included a 4-0 win at Sincil Bank in December 2007, as well as scorelines of 4-2 and 3-0.

Paul Morgan also scored one of his two City goals against Darlington, it couldn't stop City being defeat though as the Quakers turned the game around to win 2-1.

The Imps have only ever won 14 times in their 57 visits to Darlington.

Before an enforced summer clear out, Darlington were one of the most consistent sides in the division. They had finished 8th in both 2004/5 and 2005/6 before an 11th placed finish in 2006/7. 6th in the 2007/8 season saw entry into the Playoffs, but they lost out to Rochdale on penalties in the semi finals.

The Quakers were comfortably heading to last season's Playoffs before administration forced 10 points to be deducted and they finished 12th. They would have finished 6th again if the points have been added back on.

With the vast majority of their squad leaving via one method or another, as well as manager Dave Penney, it was hardly a surprise to see them struggle early on, but no-one could really have predicted how hard they would find it. They only picked up one point from their opening eight League games and it took until October 17th for them to record their first win, a 2-1 victory over Shrewsbury.

Normal service was resumed relatively quickly and they have only won three times since then. The Quakers played five games between November 21st and December 12th, losing all five and conceding a whopping 19 gaols in the process.

Things have slightly picked up in recent weeks though with two wins over Rotherham United in quick succession, although they did lose both games in between those two fixtures.

The squad is average at the absolute best. They kept hold of Stephen Foster and without him they would probably have conceded moer goals, but other than that it's a relatively below-average squad. Two of their strikers are familiar names to City fans. Noel Whelan used to play for Boston, whereas Lee Thorpe spent five years at Sincil Bank, scoring 57 goals in the process.....he has only scored 33 in the nine years since leaving Lincoln.

Well we've already lost at Darlington this season so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that we'll lose there again, but to be honest, I can't see any goals being scored in this at all.

Neither side look capable of scoring many so this game could quite easily be a case of the team that scores first winning.

Darlington 0 Lincoln 0