Lincoln boss Michael Appleton delivers verdict on Sunderland and Alex Neil - plus Imps team news with Arsenal loanee available
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Sunderland have lost just one of their seven games under Neil and scored late goals in their wins over Fleetwood and Crewe.
Still, the Black Cats are facing a battle to finish in the play-offs, while some of the teams around them have the advantage of games in hand.
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Hide AdLincoln, who beat Sunderland in the play-offs last season, may be 18th in the League One table but won 3-1 at the Stadium of Light in January – courtesy of a Chris Maguire hat-trick.
The Imps also beat play-off contenders Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 in their last home fixture, and were narrowly beaten 2-1 at league leaders Rotherham on Tuesday night.
“It’s a great game and everyone’s looking forward to it,” said Appleton when asked about Sunderland.
“From an atmosphere point of view, it will be like that Sheffield Wednesday game.
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Hide Ad“They’ll bring a lot of fans down from the North East and they’ve got a newish manager in Alex. They massively need to points to keep themselves in the play-off positions.
“We’ve got to dust ourselves down and try and reproduce something similar to the second half (against Rotherham). If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
On the Black Cats’ recent form, Appleton added: “They’ve showed really good character over the last five or six games, they win games late on.
“After that 65-70-minute, they’ve started to score regularly. They’ve been behind in a few games, so they’ve obviously got a good spirit.”
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Hide AdLincoln are hoping key defender Regan Poole will be available for the match after the right-back suffered a knock on his ankle against AFC Wimbledon last weekend.
“Regan is a doubt for Saturday but, knowing how he’s recovered in the past, you never know. I’d say his chances are 60/40 against playing,” said Appleton.
Midfielder Conor McGrandles could return following a two-match suspension, while Arsenal loanee Brooke Norton-Cuffy is available after an appeal against his red card at Wimbledon was successful.
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