Match Preview – Hayes & Yeading V The Imps

Could it really come down to this game against fellow relegation candidates Hayes & Yeading tonight at the Kingsfield stadium in Woking? One thing for certain is that a win would put us five points clear of relegation with only seven games to play with a game in hand over our opponents. A defeat though would could put us back where we were before the excellent win over Newport on Saturday. This game could well go along way in deciding our fate this season.

Hayes gained a hard earned point at home against AFC Telford. Hayes played 65 minutes of this match with only ten men following the dismissal of Centre back Phil Walsh for an aggressive gesture (appeared to grab his throat) to on loan Imp Kyle Perry. As a result of this incident it was testament to the defensive ability of Hayes to keep a clean sheet and deny Telford any real efforts on goal, in fact Hayes had ten shots on goal to Telfords two in the whole match.

Following his sending off Phil Walsh will be suspended for tonight’s clash with the Imps. they may have Pele playing in defence though, the former Southampton defender signed for the club in January and has impressed in his ten appearances to date for the club. They will also have new loan signing Piero Mingoa looking for his first start, the young midfielder signed a one month loan deal from Watford. Former Imp Jamie Hand currently plays for Hayes and it will be interesting to see if he has improved much since he appeared against the Imps at Sincil Bank earlier on in the season whilst on loan for Luton.

Hayes are one of the few teams in the league who have lost more games then the Imps and this will hopefully give our team the confidence that they can add to the three points picked up on Saturday. Lincoln have a former Hayes player in their ranks in striker Richard Pacquette, he scored four goals for tonight’s opponents before signing for the Imps.

Lincoln have no fresh injury or suspension worries ahead of this match. Holdsworth may well and should in my opinion stick with the same starting eleven that ended a seven game win less streak on Saturday.

This really is a big game, as I stated earlier on in the article if we lose this game it renders the previous win as quite meaningless in regards to our league position and chances of avoiding relegation this season. Confidence in the squad will be at a high following the well earned win and it is important that we can carry that efficient performance forward and get something out of this match. Hayes have been in good form of late and we must make sure that doesn’t continue.

I am going to go with a draw, 1-1, for this match, this result would not be a disaster for us and would also enable the team to keep the momentum growing. Which we are going to need to finish this season strongly, positively and heading in the right direction.