Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s League One clash between Crawley Town and Lincoln City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Lincoln City will look to return to winning ways in League One when they make the trip to West Sussex to face Crawley Town on Tuesday night.
The hosts are third from bottom in the league standings with seven points from 11 games, while the visitors are in seventh place with 18 points after 10 games.
Match preview
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Crawley Town come into this match looking to put the disappointment of their loss to Reading at Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday afternoon behind them.
While the Royals got the points in a 4-1 victory, the scoreline was arguably a tad harsh on the Red Devils, who had two chances cleared off the line and forced David Button into a string of saves in the second half.
Still, despite their performance in Berkshire, the defeat extended the team’s current losing streak to seven in a row across all competitions, while it has now been over two months since their last victory.
That result also meant that Rob Elliot has lost all four of his matches in charge since replacing Scott Lindsey at the start of October, and he has already seen his new side concede 14 goals in that time.
At home, the Red Devils are on a four-match losing streak and winless in their last six (W0 D1 L5), dating back to their shootout victory against Brighton Under-21s in the EFL Trophy back in August.
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Meanwhile, Lincoln City will have fond memories of Broadfield Stadium, having claimed a commanding 3-0 victory at this venue on their last visit during their promotion campaign in 2018-19.
Since then, City have established themselves in the third tier, but they will have genuine playoff aspirations this season given the start they have made in their first full season under Michael Skubala.
The Imps have taken 18 points from their first 10 games of the season and put together a run of seven matches unbeaten (W4 D3 L0) before losing to high-flyers Birmingham City which saw them slip out of the top five last week.
Despite the defeat, Skubala would have taken plenty of positives away from his team’s performance, as they took the lead in the match inside the first minute of play and could have made it nervy for the Blues had Reeco Hackett stuck away his spot-kick.
City will be looking for a swift bounce-back this week, though, and their away record suggests that could be likely, as they are one of only two sides in the division – along with Stockport County- yet to lose a match on the road this season (W3 D2 L0).
Crawley Town League One form:
Crawley Town form (all competitions):
Lincoln City League One form:
Lincoln City form (all competitions):
Team News
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Crawley Town will be able to welcome Josh Flint back to the starting lineup for this match, with the defender having now served his ban for the red card he was shown against Shrewsbury Town.
Jay Williams will also be eligible to return to the squad after his ban for an accumulation of yellow cards, meaning the only confirmed absentees for the hosts are backup goalkeeping duo Eddie Beach and Ryan Sandford.
The visitors will also see one of their key players eligible to return to action this week in Adam Jackson, who was sent off in the 1-1 draw against Blackpool at the start of the month.
Bailey Cadamarteri has now scored two-in-two and should continue to lead the line, with Jack Moylan operating as the furthest-forward midfielder.
Crawley Town possible starting lineup:
Wollacott; Barker, Mullarkey, Flint; Quitima, Ibrahim, Williams, Forster, Darcy, Holohan; Swan
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Wickens, Darikwa, O’Connor, Hamer, Jackson, Jeffries, McGrandles, Erhahon, Moylan, House, Cadamateri
We say: Crawley Town 1-2 Lincoln City
Lincoln City have been one of the most improved sides in the league this season, and while they were beaten fairly comfortably by the Blues last time out, we feel they will bounce back with a solid performance in this one.
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