Preview: Lincoln City vs. Morecambe - prediction, team news, lineups

Tuesday evening's League One action includes a huge relegation battle at the bottom of the table, with Lincoln City hosting Morecambe at Sincil Bank.

The hosts fell to another defeat at the weekend despite an impressive display, whilst the visitors had to settle for a point following a dramatic late equaliser from their opponents.

Match preview

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A puzzling season for Lincoln continues to be an inconsistent one of late, despite a slight improvement in form.

The Imps headed to high-flying MK Dons on Saturday on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Burton Albion, but had won three of their four games prior to that defeat.

Michael Appleton's side put in a positive performance at the Stadium MK, and could not have made a much better start after John Marquis provided them with the opener just eight minutes in.

However, the quality of their promotion-chasing hosts shone through in the end, and Lincoln threw away their 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 in the end, despite arguably deserving a share of the points.

The second defeat in a row leaves Tuesday's hosts down in 18th place in the League One table, with just two points separating them from their opponents inside the relegation places, so the fears of a seemingly impossible relegation following last season's successes could start to hit home should they lose to their fellow strugglers at Sincil Bank in the week.

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Meanwhile, Morecambe's gut-wrenching share of the points against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday could take some getting over.

A dramatic few minutes midway through the second half saw Bolton's Ricardo Santos receive a straight red card for his handball inside the penalty area, only for Cole Stockton to unexpectedly miss the resulting penalty.

However, Morecambe's top goalscorer made up for the miss just three minutes later, with the striker netting his 18th league goal of the campaign to seemingly set his side well on their way to a vital three points against 10 men.

Amadou Bakayoko had other ideas for the visitors though, as he netted a remarkable equaliser in the 14th minute of stoppage time to snatch two points from the Shrimps.

The heartbreak meant that Steve Robinson's side failed to climb out of the relegation places after all, but he will be keen for his side to draw on the positives of their display against strong opposition, although he may acknowledge how difficult that may be under the circumstances.

With only nine points taken from a possible 42 on the road this season, Robinson may well settle for the point on Tuesday, despite facing off against another struggling outfit.

Team News

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Lincoln will remain without the services of the important trio of Liam Bridcutt, Lewis Montsma and Tom Hopper on Tuesday, with the latter pushing for a return by end of February.

Adam Jackson, Joe Walsh and Hakeeb Adelakun are listed as doubts for the hosts as well, but Appleton has no fresh injury concerns to contend with, and also has Freddie Draper back in contention following his concussion.

Forward Chris Maguire will be pushing for a start following his return to the bench at the weekend.

As for the visitors, Trevor Carson and Liam Gibson are ruled out due to concussion and a hamstring injury respectively.

Freddie Price also remains unavailable for the foreseeable future due to a concerning head injury, whilst Aaron Wildig will need to be assessed due to his calf injury.

Goalkeeper Kyle Letheren unexpectedly missed out at the weekend, so Adam Smith could be required between the posts following his debut against Bolton.

Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Griffiths; Bishop, Eyoma, Poole, Bramall; McGrandles, Fiorini; Whittaker, Cullen, Scully; Marquis

Morecambe possible starting lineup:
Smith; McLaughlin, O'Connor, Bedeau, Leigh; Phillips, Diagouraga, McLoughlin; Ayunga, Stockton, Gnahoua

We say: Lincoln City 2-1 Morecambe

This could be a nervy clash on Tuesday due to the importance of this relegation battle, but with both sides relatively prolific in front of goal and leaky at the other end of the pitch, we are still expecting a few goals.

If Lincoln can perform anywhere near their best then they should have enough in them to see off Morecambe, despite their league position this campaign, but the visitors are likely to be downbeat following their dramatic draw on Saturday.

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