Swindon will head into Saturday’s game against league leaders Lincoln City full of belief after Jak McCourt’s late winner earnt the Robins all three points away at Macclesfield last weekend.
Town saw off Sol Campbell’s Silkmen in injury time after coming from behind at Moss Rose – Marc Richards and McCourt getting the goals to get Town ahead after Tyrone Marsh’s opener.
The Robins have only lost three times under Richie Wellens since his arrival but had been frustrated with three draws over Christmas before a home loss to Exeter on New Year’s Day.
New loan signings, Ben House and Canice Carroll are set to make their home debuts after featuring in the win over Macclesfield last week, with Carroll playing a full 90 minutes and House coming off the bench to tee up the winner.
The Oppo
Lincoln are top of the tree in League Two – four points clear of second placed MK Dons, they are on 51 points and have navigated a tricky Christmas period well.
Before a 2-1 loss to Crewe on Boxing Day, the Imps had been unbeaten since October and followed up their loss to the Alex with a win over Cambridge at Abbey Stadium.
The Lincolnshire side have only lost four games in total all season with top scorer John Akinde bagging 11 goals and being a vital component of their success this season after joining from Barnet in the summer.
Head-to-head
24 Apr 1982 Swindon Town v Lincoln City W 1-0 League Division Three
28 Oct 2006 Swindon Town v Lincoln City L 0-1 League Two
25 Mar 2007 Lincoln City v Swindon Town W 2-3 League Two
17 Oct 2017 Swindon Town v Lincoln City L 0-1 League Two
03 Feb 2018 Lincoln City v Swindon Town D 2-2 League Two
11 Aug 2018 Lincoln City v Swindon Town L 4-1 League Two
The Gaffer
Danny Cowley’s managerial story is a unique one at this level - he had balanced his coaching at Concord Rangers and Braintree Town with his job as a PE teacher.
While at Concord Rangers, Cowley won three promotions – on in his first season from the Essex Senior Football League, another up to the Isthmian Premier Division at the second attempt after narrowly missing out their first season in Division One before two seasons of consolidation in the division above. At the third time of asking, Cowley and Concord were up into National League South.
In his last season at Rangers, Concord reached the first round proper of the FA Cup and narrowly missed out on a play-off spot with Cowley departing for Braintree Town.
In his first season at Cressing Road, Braintree secured their highest-ever league finish – third in the National League. However, their play-off dream ended with a 2-0 home defeat to Grimsby who were eventually promoted.
Cowley moved on again at the end of the season to Lincoln overseeing the club’s return to the Football League, winning the National League title alongside a famous cup run. They became the first non-league side to reach the quarter finals of the FA Cup, beating Championship sides Ipswich Town and Brighton before Premier League Burnley before losing 5-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Last season, Lincoln finished 7th but lost out to Exeter in the play-off semis. However, their season didn’t finish without silverware. They beat Shrewsbury to win the EFL Trophy – Elliott Whitehouse scored the only goal of the game to win the Imps’ first ever game at Wembley.
