The meeting of League Two's surprise in-form teams

Saturday will see the meeting of League Two's form teams, but it's not two teams that you'd have expected. Just two weeks ago both Hereford and Lincoln looked destined for the drop, but both have put together a run of four League wins in a row and are now clear of the drop zone.

A month ago you could have asked Lincoln and Hereford fans if they've win four in a row and both would have probably told you "no". Both were winning the odd game here and there but both were looking down and out, especially the Imps who were dead in the water at the bottom this time two weeks ago, three points behind Hereford and four off of safety. Four wins later and the picture at the bottom of League Two has changed drastically.

Wins against Stockport, Cheltenham, Port Vale and Bradford has seen City move from adrift at the bottom to not a teasing ten points off of the Playoffs. City are obviously going to lose eventually, but whilst we're winning we can still dream, and many Imps fans will be optimistic of a victory on Saturday. The clubs have met three times this season and despite a record of one win each and a draw, Hereford realistically haven't been the better team in any of the three games, relying on defensive and goalkeeping mistakes to gift them goals in games where they otherwise rarely attacked.

The current Lincoln side is virtually unrecognisable from the team that lost to Hereford four weeks ago. Only four of Lincoln's starting XI on Tuesday evening started the game in the FA Cup four weeks ago. Since then the Imps had added Carson, Hunt, Kelly, Kanyuka, Fuseini and Spencer to the squad, whereas ex-Hereford Gavin McCallum has also come into the side. Even the bench has had a major overhaul. Only two players remained on the bench from the previous game against the Bulls, whereas Albert Jarrett, Joe Anderson and Ben Hutchinson have been dropped altogether.

Lincoln could potentially go as high as 13th with victory, it would be 12th but Stevenage face Accrington and it would be impossible to end the day ahead of both of them. Hereford could go as high as 17th with a win.

Adam Watts pulled up injured in the warm up before the game against Bradford and is likely to be out for the game against Hereford. He might be somewhat relieved after conceding two penalties when the Imps visited Edgar Street just over two months ago.

Watts was initially replaced by Kanyuka, but his relatively poor display saw his debut end after half time and it is likely that his replacement, Ali Fuseini, will replace him in the starting line up. Other than that it should be the same starting line up as the game at Bradford.

THE LIKELY CITY STARTING XI
	Carson is set for his fifth game in the City net and will be hoping for his second clean sheet. He made some vital saves at Bradford on Tuesday evening and will be hoping for much of the same.
	One of the main reasons our defence has tightened in recent weeks
	Hoyte returned to the squad on Tuesday and was often beaten by the attackers running down the left wing, however, going forward he was excellent and set up the goal.
	It's amazing to think that a month ago Hone didn't seem to feature in Tilson's plans at all, and now he's one of the integral parts of the team. Due to being out on loan and being cup tied, this will be the first time he will face Hereford for the Imps this season.
	Kelly has come into the side in recent weeks and despite a horrible passing success rate, he has helped improve the goals against column. He was rarely beaten on Tuesday evening.
	McCallum finally gets to face his former side and will be desperate to prove a point to Hereford. The last time he played at Edgar Street in a game involving Lincoln saw him saw twice.
	Howell had probably his worst performance for the Imps against Bradford in the first half, got a lot, lot better in the second half though and was unlucky not to score.
	If ever there's been a player who has changed fans opinions in the last few weeks, it's O'Keefe. After spending the first five months at the club not doing virtually anything, he's suddenly become an attacking force since his goal at Northampton.
	Easily the most impressive of the three debutants on Tuesday evening. At first glance he linked up well with the rest of the midfield and helped the attack.
	The last two games have shown what Grimes is all about. He's barely been noticeable in the last two games until late on, when he produced a decent shot that either went in (Port Vale) or inevitably set up the winning goal.
	Facey scored his fourth Lincoln goal on Tuesday and now faces Hereford, a team for whom half of his Lincoln goals have come against. As strange as it sounds, Delroy is now one of the most integral parts of the team.

This is Hereford's fifth year in the League and season have faced the Bulls in three of the previous four seasons. It all started when the Imps became the first side to visit Hereford since they returned to the League in August 2006, a Mark Stallard brace capped a brilliant performance from City that gave a first win of the season with a 2-1 scoreline. Skip forward to February and Hereford visited Sincil Bank just days after City had won at Walsall to go second....a 4-1 win for Hereford later and City's season collapsed, the Imps only securing two wins from that point onwards and ever since that night, City have been on a downward spiral.

The following season saw the clubs have to wait until December to play each other, however, City were no match for Hereford and despite a Lee Frecklington equaliser, Hereford ran out 3-1 winners. The return fixture saw Scott Kerr sent off before a Dany N'Guessan double, eventually seeing City win 2-1 just weeks before Hereford won promotion.

They made an immediate return to the division and the clubs didn't meet until February last season. Gavin McCallum scored twice at Edgar Street to secure Hereford three points, but the return fixture at Sincil Bank saw arguably City's best performance of the season, also featuring arguably the goal of last season from Matt Saunders. It was the highest attendance of City's season, but mainly due to the fact the World Cup was at Sincil Bank and there was a chance to get your photo taken of it.

One of City's best performances of this season has also come against Hereford as goals from Ben Hutchinson, Delroy Facey and Mustapha Carayol gave City a comfortable 3-1 win. A week later came the original Second Round tie. Goals from Ashley Grimes and Mustapha Carayol weren't enough as goals from Fleetwood and Manset gained Hereford a replay. The replay was an entertaining and frustrating game. Hereford took the lead early through Manset before quickfire goals from Clapham and Facey gave the Imps the lead before a Fleetwood double gave Hereford the half time lead. Grimes equalised for City near enough straight away in the second half before Manset finally won the game late on.

Not many players have played for both clubs over the past ten years. Current Imp Gavin McCallum use to play for Hereford, whereas Janos Kovacs plays for Hereford after only just leaving City early last year. Former loanee Joe Heath also plays for Hereford. Other than that, the clubs have only shared Scott Willis (above, left), Josh Gowling, Rob Betts and Guy Ipoua have represented both.

Hereford's season has again turned around. Since the departure of Simon Davey, they've been the stereotypical Jekyll and Hyde team. Winning runs were followed by long runs with victories. Much like the Imps their recent form has seen them pull clear of the drop zone, and they currently side three points behind the Imps.

Not only have their won their last four League games, they've won six of their last seven in all competitions, the only game that didn't end with victory was away at Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup. This run of wins started on January 3rd, but that was their first League win since the end of October, so they are incredibly prone to form quickly changing.

Under Pitman they have slowly started moving away from the drop zone, and they do have a generally favourable fixture list coming up. After Lincoln, they have three home games in four against Macclesfield, Burton and Northampton, as well as trips to Cheltenham and Oxford. Their biggest part of the season though will come from mid-February onwards as they face Port Vale on March 22nd, the first of six straight games against teams currently in or around the Playoff places.  It's a run where you wouldn't expect them to get many points, so they will need as many points as possible before then.

Hereford have an average squad in all fairness. Adam Bartlett is almost as incompetent as Joe Anyon and to be honest, there's only one seeming match winner in their squad, Stuart Fleetwood. Elsewhere are former Lincoln defenders Janos Kovacs and Joe Heath.

Rather amusingly, defender Ryan Green has signed a new contract this week. Green was one of the worst defenders to visit Sincil Bank this season, constantly standing off the attackers and then getting sent off. You know you're in trouble when Albert Jarrett runs past you.