Imps Look To Dent Walsall Record

18th August 2006

Lincoln City entertain Walsall in a League Two encounter at Sincil Bank on Saturday afternoon.

The match will see the return of former Imp Dean Keates, who left Lincoln City in late-January 2006. At the time, Keates was, according to sources in the West Midlands, valued at £25,000 but he was released from his Lincoln City FC contract to enable his return to the West Midlands; within hours, he had joined Walsall.

It is difficult to gage the kind of reaction that Keates will face when he returns to Lincoln for the first time. He had been an Imps' player for just six months but was quite popular because of his set-pieces. However, he also had a poor on-field discipline record.

Keates' set-pieces will pose a danger to Lincoln, especially as he is in goal scoring form having scored two goals last Saturday in Walsall's 2-0 victory over Hartlepool United

This win propelled Walsall to the top of League Two, with a perfect record of having won three matches without conceding a goal against. Their other two victories were away to Rochdale (1-0) and at home to Stockport County (2-0).

Should Lincoln defeat Walsall then The Imps could find themselves in top spot by Saturday teatime. A win alone is insufficient, as they are reliant on other teams losing. However, at this early stage of the season, league placings are more psychological than meaningful.

These two clubs first met on October 8th 1892 when Lincoln City lost 2-1 at Walsall in a Division 2 fixture. The return fixture, which was played on March 31st 1893, saw Lincoln win 3-1. Please click here for a historical round-up of the results between these two clubs.

Odds for the game:

Lincoln City - 13/10
Draw - 11/5
Walsall - 9/5

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