Diamonds and Lincoln ready to do battle once again

The two teams did battle in the Buildbase FA Trophy last month with Lincoln coming out on top with a 2-0 home success in a replay after they had shared a 3-3 draw at the Dog & Duck.

And they met again in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One South just over a week ago when they drew 1-1.

Now they will face off again in the return league fixture in Lincolnshire this evening with plenty on the line.

Diamonds made it 16 league matches without defeat thanks to a fine 1-1 draw at leaders Shaw Lane on Saturday and Andy Peaks’ team will move into the top five for the first time this season if they are victorious this evening.

But Lincoln, as Diamonds know all-too well, are in good form themselves at the moment and go into the clash on the back of an eight-match unbeaten run in the league.

Peaks feels his team can take “a lot of belief” out of their performance at Shaw Lane on Saturday and he now wants them to set themselves up for the festive fixtures, the first of which is a clash with Stamford at the Dog & Duck on Boxing Day.

“We have got to go there and look to get something out of the game,” the Diamonds boss said.

“Both teams know plenty about each other and they are on a good run of form in the league themselves at the moment.

“We have got to take a lot of belief out of what we did at the weekend and take that into tonight.

“It won’t be easy but we want to pick up another good result to set us up for the Christmas fixtures.”

Diamonds will have Brad Harris and Fazel Koriya available again after they missed the weekend draw due to one-match suspensions having been sent off in the previous stalemate with Lincoln.

And Peaks added: “We have a good squad at the moment and we were able to make the changes we needed to at the weekend and still produce a good performance and a good result.

“It will be good to have those two back because they are good players but there is plenty of competition for places at present and that’s what we want.”