Imps prepare for visit from old friends Macc

Lincoln City's annual home game against Macclesfield is played this Saturday as the teams meet in the League for the fourteenth season in a row. The Imps are the only team Macclesfield have faced every single season that they've spent in the Football League and the clubs have been connected more than most other culbs ever will be.

As the Imps are about to enter a new era with a new manager, we go into what the club plans to be the final game before the new man is appointed. It's the final chance for those who don't get in the team often to impress Scott Lindsey and Paul Musselwhite enough to convince them to recommend they should play for the first team under the new manager.

It seems almost ironic in a way that the final chance these players have to impress, happens to come against a side that has effectively become a "Ghost of Lincoln Past" over the last 5/6 years. The Imps and Macclesfield have a lengthy recent history, sharing players, managers, coaches, numerous matches and even facing each other in the Playoffs. There can be few sides in the UK that are as familiar with each other as the Imps and the Silkmen, but more about that later.

Much like when Peter Jackson and Chris Sutton both arrived at the club, numerous changes are expected under the new manager as the Imps aim to move away from the drop zone. Most of the squad aren't good enough and the fact we will reach the 500 minutes without a goal mark if we get to the 65th minute without scoring tells it's own story.

Paul Green and Andy Hutchinson are both out injured, whereas Drewe Broughton is a doubt to face one of the few clubs at this level he hasn't played for. Anyon is expected to return after injuring himself at Southend last week. Scott Kerr does return from suspension though.

Much like last week, it's hard to say what City's starting line up will be due to injuries and that Lindsey and Musselwhite could be extremely tempted to change a side that hasn't scored in 435 minutes at all, or 455 minutes from open play.

As mentioned earlier, the Imps and Macclesfield have an extensive recent history. The clubs have shared a LOT of players over the last ten years, although most have played at Lincoln before going to Macclesfield. The clubs have shared managers, coaches and they have played each other numerous times. The Imps have an excellent recent record against Macclesfield and haven't conceded against Macclesfield in the last three meetings between the club, with City unbeaten in the six meetings since the defeat on New Year's Day in 2007.

Macclesfield have a rotten record at Sincil Bank, only recording one victory in the League at Sincil Bank and that came ten seasons ago. Since then the results at Sincil Bank have been (Lincoln's score first) 1-0, 3-0, 3-2, 2-0, 1-0 (Playoffs), 2-2, 2-1, 3-1, 1-0 and last season's 0-0. I would normally go more in depth about the matches between the clubs but the amount of games there have been over the last ten years means that it would be impractical.

Keith Alexander managed both sides, dying suddenly earlier this year whilst in charge of the Silkmen and some fans have nicknamed this the "Keith Alexander Derby". Current Macclesfield manager Gary Simpson was Keith's assistant at Sincil Bank. Richard Butcher, Hamza Bencherif (right), Nat Brown, Paul Morgan and Martin Gritton (currently on loan at Torquay) are all current Silkmen that had spent time at Sincil Bank during their career.

Francis Green, Ben Wright, Simon Yeo, Mark Bailey, Marvin Robinson, Spencer Weir-Daley, Kevin Sandwith, Martin Carruthers, Simon Weaver, Ben Sedgemore and Tony Bullock also all played for both clubs over the past ten years. Out of the 16 players, only 4 of them played for the Silkmen before they did City. Former Silkmen Neil Harvey also had a trial at Sincil Bank in 2007/8, whereas Luke Dimech was also a former Imps trainee before joining the Silkmen several years ago.

To underestimate Macclesfield is arguably more dangerous that underestimating Accrington, who easily beat the Imps just a few weeks ago. Although Macclesfield, even under Keith Alexander, were generally considered a team that you would be disappointed if you didn't get three points against. Under Gary Simpson they definitely improved last season and they finished the season strongly and were rated by many as darkhorses for this season.

They started the season badly and they didn't record their first win until a surprise 2-0 win at Macclesfield through 2 stunning goals. Macclesfield have lost just once in the League since then and that was against top of the table Port Vale, they did however lose 4-2 to Crewe Alexandra in midweek in the JP Trophy.

Macclesfield's squad will generally be familiar to most City fans, with all the aforementioned names being regular features in the Macclesfield line up. Several of their squad have also played for local rivals of the Imps, namely Matt Hamshaw with Mansfield and Notts County, and Paul Bolland at Grimsby.