After re-finding the winning habit on home soil Rotherham United must now continue in the same vain and will be looking to gain some momentum in their promotion push when they travel to Sincil Bank.
The 2-0 triumph against Dagenham & Redbridge at Don Valley hauled the Millers back up to fourth position in League Two and although they still find themselves six points adrift a 15th win of the season would certainly keep the pressure on the top three.
Defender Dale Tonge is fighting to be fit for the trip to Lincoln, he took a knock on his foot and was forced to sit out of the Daggers match, however he is hoping to recover in time to have some sort of involvement. Paul Warne (ankle), Andy Liddell (achilles) and Jamie Annerson (head) remain sidelined for the Millers. Otherwise boss Ronnie Moore will have a full strength squad to choose from and after making several changes for their previous game he will be expected to field the same eleven.
Imps manager Chris Sutton will have a selection teaser ahead of the match. After watching his team's disappointing 1-1 draw against bottom club Darlington he will have to decide whether to shake up his starting line-up or keep the faith with the team which put an end to a run of three straight defeats.
Lincoln will go into the home fixture having played their last four away from Sincil Bank but despite languishing at the wrong end of the table they will be confident of getting a result having won their last two on home turf. They have now gone four games without a win and occupy 20th in League Two just nine points above the drop zone, however at home they have lost on only five occasions this season and with five wins and three draws they will prove a tough test.
The Millers will be desperate to distinguish the memories of the 2-0 defeat suffered at the Darlington Arena in their last away game and will look to capitalise on their hosts recent poor run of form. At present they sit one place and six points behind the automatic promotion places but have the advantage of two games in hand and a win could see them edge that bit closer. With 22 points of the 48 notched up so far this campaign coming on the road the Millers will arrive in Lincolnshire with a sense of optimism.
Rotherham have definitely had the upper hand over their counterparts through the seasons, with 44 wins from 93 games they have the bragging rights in just under 50% of the match-ups. Lincoln have recorded 26 wins with the other 23 ending even. The first ever meeting between the two in January 1920 resulted in a 3-0 victory for the Millers in the old Division Two North. Their opponents had to wait almost four years to achieve success winning 2-1 in the 1923/24 season. In recent years the Millers have proved hard to beat having won the last five in a row and after a 2-0 win earlier this season they will be keen to keep that superb run going.
Words: Chris Ellison
