LINCOLN have had some lean years in the fifth tier but they moved into the National League playoff positions by winning 3-1 at Torquay on Saturday and can follow it up with a win at Hertfordshire strugglers Boreham Wood tonight.
Since relegation from the Football League in 2011, Lincoln have posted four successive bottom-half finishes.
It has been a frustrating time but the tide seems to have turned after a busy summer which saw ten permanent signings arrive.
Getting the new players to gel was a tricky challenge for Imps boss Chris Moyses and, after three wins from their opening ten games, Lincoln looked set for another disappointing season.
However, Moyses’s side have turned the tide by winning eight of their last 11 league matches and look overpriced 13-8 shots to see off Boreham Wood, who are fifth-bottom, two points outside of the drop zone.
Wood have lost seven of their 11 home league fixtures and their only two home victories have been against struggling duo Halifax (3-1) and Welling (2-0).
Zenit St Petersburg became the first team in this year’s Champions League to claim their group as they secured their fifth successive win in Group H with a 2-0 win over Valencia.
In Group E, Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at Bate Borisov.
Sunderland have eased to 4-9 for relegation from the Premier League after Jermain Defoe’s 80th-minute goal handed them a surprise 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday.
The result lifted the Black Cats to third-from-bottom – as high as they have been all season – and leaves Aston Villa marooned four points adrift at the foot of the table.
Villa are yet to win in three games since the dismissal of Tim Sherwood and are 4-11 to be playing in the Championship next season.
The next Fulham manager market has taken another twist with Birmingham boss Gary Rowett becoming the third person to shorten to odds-on for the position.
Nigel Pearson and Steve Clarke have both been strongly linked with the Cottagers vacancy over the last week but Rowett was all the rage yesterday and was trimmed to 4-5 with Ladbrokes.
