Lincoln City could see one of their missing players return this weekend, but there’s no end in sight for their other walking wounded.
The Imps have been blighted by injury, with six players missing out on Tuesday night’s 1-0 win at Leyton Orient. Ben House and Lewis Montsma are long-term absentees, whilst Tyler Walker has been out since September and is due back in the next few weeks.
Reeco Hackett, who had a solid start to the season as the Imps surged up the table, is out with a hamstring injury, whilst Jaden Brown missed the game through illness. Ted Bishop, a player who regularly struggles with injuries, also missed out, whilst they were also without captain Paudie O’Connor (suspended) and defender Sean Roughan. (international duty).
In his pre-match press conference, head coach Michael Skubala confessed that just one of the injured players could make an appearance this weekend.
“There’s a little bit of a good news story,” said the former Leeds Under 21 boss. “Teddy Bishop is back on the grass. We’ll see for Saturday, it might be too early, but he might be okay. The rest are still working hard to get back.”
27-year-old Bishop joined the Imps in the summer of 2021 on a free transfer after leaving Ipswich. In those two-and-a-half-years, he’s started 53 League One matches, coming off the bench 19 times. This season, the Cambridge-born creator has appeared 15 times, scoring twice. However, he hasn’t been seen in an Imps shirt since the 1-0 win at Fleetwood in mid-October, the first game after the sacking of Mark Kennedy.
Lincoln face their third game in ten days against the Tykes, who haven’t been in league action themselves since November 11th. The Imps are ninth in the table, just a single point behind their opponents, who are sixth.
Sean Roughan is likely to return for Skubala’s side, but Ethan Hamilton, their goalscoring hero at Brisbane Road in midweek, will miss out. He picked up his fifth booking of the season on Tuesday night, triggering a one-match suspension.
Writer’s View
When one door opens, another closes at the LNER Stadium this season, and as Bishop returns, Hamilton misses out. They’ve been plagued by injuries and had to name two academy players on the bench for their trip to East London on Tuesday night.
However, despite the setbacks, they’re still tucked into the play-off hunt, and there’s a real feeling when one or two of the injured bodies come back, they could find themselves shaving a late push up the league.
House or Walker will certainly get back into the team, whilst Hackett was a revelation after his summer move from Portsmouth, and he’ll be a welcome returnee around Christmas. Getting ‘just’ Bishop back might not be the extent of news Imps fans want, but it is certainly a start.
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