No gimmicks, no funny title, just go and win for once!

Normally for a match preview I would come up with some sort of gimmicky headline, or at least try to think of something funny, but this previous for the game against Cheltenham deserves a more serious treatment, especially as we could end the day in the relegation zone.

Do you want to know what's great our current squad? In 14 days we won't have to see the vast majority of them in a Lincoln shirt again. Quite frankly I have absolutely no problem it not having to see Ben Hutchinson's attitude anymore, how someone can be so arrogant with a goalscoring record as poor his is beyond me. Lazy, arrogant, goal-shy and all around a poor team player, he is all that is wrong with this team at the moment.

He's not the only one though. As well as Ben Hutchinson, there have also been Joe Anyon, Josh O'Keefe, Adam Watts, Julian Kelly, Patrick Kanyuka, Elliott Parish, Andy Hutchinson, Drewe Broughton, Ali Fuseini, Cian Hughton, Albert Jarrett, Scott Spencer and Moses Swaibu have all played and not given any indications as to why they're still calling themselves a professional footballer. It is just shocking how many bad players we can have during just one season and quite frankly, for those that aren't already gone, I can't wait to see the back of them.

I'm tired of being nice about these players, I'm tired of pretending that any of the aforementioned are any good. When Paul Green, a player who I don't think is very good, can come into the squad all of a sudden and be the best from the starting XI then you know you're in trouble.

Most of you are not worthy of being paid the obscene amounts of money that you do and how the hell you have the nerve to blame the fans for your constantly shite performances is one of the biggest pieces of shit I have ever heard. Yeah, because it's the fans fault that you have been thrashed several times at home this season.

I'm sick of the excuses this group of players come out with. they blame the fans, the referee, the pitch, the wind wasn't blowing in the right direction, Saturn wasn't aligned with Pluto, Susan Boyle didn't win the Britain's Got Talent, the light doesn't reflect off of the cathedral correctly, the treacherous ten miles of the A46 from Newark to Lincoln ruined the concentration of the players, the DVD on the coach to away games wasn't the correct genre, Eastenders didn't end with a cliffhanger............I think this mini-joke has run it's course.....which is of course another excuse for them to use.

After 43 games of disappointing, excuses and more bullshit than you can throw, you lot owe us fans, the ones who pay your wages, the performance that will give us a chance of winning. Some of you think you're too good for the non-League........that's exactly where you'll be if you don't pull your fingers out, now go out there and prove your worthy of being a Football League team next season.

YOU OWE US, not the other way around.

I'll make the players a deal, you keep us up and I don't slate you for one whole season......no matter how tempting it will inevitably be.

Ashley Grimes returns from suspension, a very welcome return given that the only goal whilst he was gone was scored by a defender, infact, if you added up all the goals that the other strikers have scored this season, it would take two full seasons to get anywhere near where Grimes has got to in one season. He may not want to join us permanently but thank you Ashley for your goals this season, because we'd be down without you.

Mustapha Carayol will also likely miss the game due to an injury sustained in the game against Bury, a game in which he was making his return from injury.

Other than that there's not a lot to really talk about. No new suspensions, obviously no players coming in, no players have left and no one has got arrested or alledgedly stolen chickens from Tescos. It is likely City will return to the 4-4-2 formation with the return of Ashley Grimes, unfortunately Ben Hutchinson is likely to be the strike partner.

THE LIKELY CITY STARTING XI
	I have not been impressed with Parish so far. If it's not straight at him and it's on target, it seems to go in. Against Crewe and Bury have done a much better job recently, Parish's seemingly brilliant Ayden Duffy impression makes it difficult to keep a clean sheet in. The one saving grace I'll give to Parish is that it also took Burch, Anyon and Carson all took a few games to get their first clean sheet and when better to get his first then in arguably the biggest game of the season?
	Joe came back into the team against Rotherham a few weeks back and despite the Imps not winning since he came back into the side, he has been one of the better players, however, many sceptics believes that this is only to earn him a new contract. Relevant Stat - Joe will make his 48th appearance for the Imps if he plays against Cheltenham, only 12 of the previous 47 have ended in a Lincoln win.
	Was Adam Watts the weak link of the defence all along? Watts has been the partner to Hone, Pearce, Swaibu and various others and missing the last two games has seen the Imps do considerably better defensive. Hone looks more confident without Watts by his side and the absense of Watts, contining Hone's partnership with Green, could well be the key factor of the game against Cheltenham.
	I'm not a fan of Green, mainly because he's far, far too injury prone,  but there's no doubt that the defence has looked considerably stronger with him in it in the last two games. Other than the problem with the marking for the goal against Bury and the penalty he conceded against Crewe (albeit a very soft one), the defence has been far stronger with him in it. With his contract coming to an end, he is making the most of the opportunity to earn a new one, he's certainly doing his chances no harm.
	Despite recent speculation that he had left the club, Hughton returned to the side against Bury, mainly due to Watts' injury, and he generally did quite well, even resembling the Hughton that impressed so much last season. Much like the rest of the defence that are likely to play, he is playing for a contract and will need to have three good games to end his season to get a new one.
	A central midfielder playing in right midfield isn't the best thing for the world most of the time and Howell is certainly inconsistent in this position to say the least. He's great at getting into positions but his passing isn't the best and his set pieces are even worse. One of the few who are here next season and will no doubt be desperate not to be a non-league player in two weeks time.
	I'm going to be honest and McCallum's recent interview in the Echo where he is making excuses for the constantly poor performance at Sincil Bank has really pissed me off. I hate players who look for excuses for losing before they've even lost and it's changed my opinion on the Canadian. He's alright as a player but he can't take a set piece.....unless you like someone who either can't beat the first defender or it goes over everyone.
	Cheltenham Town saw Josh O'Keefe hit a brilliant goal against them and they must have been thinking "That midfielder looks handy".....it's just a pity that it's one of only three positive things she's done all season. With just two weeks of the season left, I am STILL finding myself strugglin to think of what O'Keefe brings to the side.....and yet he keeps playing.
	I like Kilbey, I think he's a good young midfielder and given that he has been told he isn't going to get a new contract at Portsmouth, I think he would be a great addition to the squad. He could also be highly useful at corners given that he's quite tall, easily the tourist out of the likely starters.
	Came to the Imps on loan from Celtic with a good reputation. A former Premiership man went to Celtic and had a loan spell at Swindon last season before hitting a brace in the pre-season friendly at Sincil Bank last summer. What has ensued is a man with an appaling goalscoring record and a man who has very few positive influences on the match having a moan at all the other players in the squad on a consistent basis. I wasn't even that fussed until the game against Bury on Friday, he wasn't the lowest goalscorer at the club, no-one will take that crown away from Drewe Broughton or Scott Spencer.....but at least those two try. Hutchinson didn't try, I'd be surprised if he even broke into sweat. He would go down, not even fouled, and just stay down, even when we were building an attack. When you're playing 4-5-1, you can't afford to have a lazy git as the lone frontman. How someone so incredibly crap at their job as a striker can have a go at someone else is shocking! His professional career reads at 8 goals from 78 professional games is not a record that makes you justifiably arrogant and I take delight in knowing that in 14 days, I will never have to see Ben Hutchinson in a Lincoln shirt again.
	Without Grimes we would already be down. He has scored more than double the amount of goals that the rest of the strikers at the club have scored combined. I'm not that upset that he's said he doesn't want to come permanently because I think, much like Davide Somma, he will comfortably cope if given a chance at a higher level. Grimes was the last man to score a winning goal for the Imps, if he can repeat the trick to keep the Imps up then he will become an Imps hero. Just a pity he doesn't actually want to stay.

In the match preview this season I was talking about how a win for the Robins would have seen them move to 4th in the table, however, one team falls rapidly down the table each season and this season it has been Cheltenham Town.

Cheltenham were challenging for promotion earlier this season after a struggle last season. A few days before Lincoln won at Whaddon Road, they had beaten Port Vale.....that was January 22nd.....they've only won twice since then. TWICE! Their form over the last nine games is worse than Lincoln....and that's saying something.

They are getting well beaten on regular intervals now, including an 8-1 thumping at Cheltenham a few weeks back, 8-1........EIGHT GOALS TO ONE! They've also been well beaten by Chesterfield, Hereford and Stevenage in recent months. They haven't scored in their last two games, losing 2-0 to Burton and 1-0 to Macclesfield.

There was a time during this season when Thomas and Goulding had 24 between them, they've only scored seven between them since City's win there in January.

Before this season, City had a horrible recent history against Cheltenham, especially away from home. Before the 2-1 win at Cheltenham in January thanks to goals from Stephen Hunt and Josh O'Keefe, City had returned pointless from Gloucestershire on the last six occasions. Last season saw an even game decided by a Julian Alsop tap in, but the game at Sincil Bank was far more memorable. Jamie Clarke had equalised with what would turn out to be his only goal for the Imps, Justin Richards had opened the scoring. A sending off for Aaron Brown resulted in a mass brawl on the bench that eventually saw Ian Pearce, Chris Sutton and Cheltenham's Barry Richardson all sent to the stands.

That was the first meeting since two quickfire games in 2005/6. Cheltenham's Kayode Odejayi scored with one of Cheltenham's rare attacks at Sincil Bank, but the return game at Whaddon Road six weeks later was far less even. Guinan opened the scoring before Mayo equalised. Luke Foster had a brilliant effort tipped over the bar before a brace from Brian Wilson and a late Gillespie effort secured the big win for the hosts . That defeat came on November 18th and the Imps would only lose one game between then and March 18th.

Even goals against Cheltenham are generally rare for the Imps, with the last time City scored more than one against Cheltenham coming in 2004, when City were 2-1 up with three minutes to go and still lost 3-2.

Since the turn of the millenium we have shared Lee Ridley,  Aaron Lescott, John Finnigan (left), Aaron Brown and Paul Connor. Connor was far from a popular figure at Cheltenham or the Imps, playing a combined 108 times for both teams and scoring just eight goals, all of which were for Cheltenham. Former Lincoln manager John Schofield was a coach at Cheltenham under Martin Allen, both of whom are now at Notts County.