Lincoln City play host to Burnley on Saturday afternoon with both teams looking to record what could prove to be a pivotal victory in the context of their season.

While the Imps sit in 18th position in the Championship table, they are just four points ahead of the Clarets, who sit in 22nd place.

Match preview

When taking over Burnley in the summer, Nicky Hayen would not have envisaged sitting in the relegation zone after 11 matches.

However, in recent weeks, there have been more positives than negatives, including a three-game unbeaten streak in matches versus Derby County, Watford and Charlton Athletic.

Last time out, Burnley took the lead against Wolverhampton Wanderers, but failing to make the most of their dominance in the opening 30 minutes allowed the fellow relegated Premier League club to earn a rare victory at Turf Moor.

Despite that setback, Hayen will be encouraged that Burnley have scored in each of their Championship fixtures this season.

Although just one clean sheet has been posted, the North-West outfit have also only conceded more than twice in a single fixture in eight games on one occasion, that occurring at leaders Swansea City.

As far as Lincoln are concerned, everyone associated with last season's League One champions will be delighted to have 12 points from 11 matches.

While they recently suffered a three-match losing streak, two of those matches were against Swansea and West Ham United.

The biggest frustration will stem from blowing a two-goal lead at Millwall last time out, as well as recording their third red card in just two games.

That all said, regardless of still searching for their first home league win of the season, Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen would have taken sitting four points above the bottom three at this stage of the campaign had it been offered to them in August.

Lincoln City Championship form:

Burnley Championship form:

Team News

Although Conor McGrandles is available to return to the Lincoln midfield after suspension, Deji Elewere was sent off against Millwall and Freddie Draper collected his fifth yellow card of the season.

Ryley Towler and Mikkel Ladefoged could be provided with opportunities in defence and attack respectively.

Tom Hamer remains banned due to his red card versus West Ham.

Hayen may consider recalling goalkeeper Max Weiss after Gregoire Coudert's mistake for Wolves' winning goal.

Marcus Edwards and Chelsea loanee Dastan Satpaev are options in the final third, with Jacob Bruun Larsen potentially dropping out.

Burnley remain with a lengthy injury list that includes Bashir Humphreys, Hannibal Mejbri and Zeki Amdouni.

Lincoln City possible starting lineup:

Wickens; Coubis, Towler, Bradley, Reach; Varfolomeev, Konak; Hackett, Street, Jefferies; Ladefoged

Burnley possible starting lineup:

Weiss; Walker, Ekdal, Julio, Pires; Alleyne, Hatate; Ramazani, Laurent, Edwards; Vardy

We say: Lincoln City 1-2 Burnley

Although Burnley suffered defeat to Wolves last time out, there are clear signs of improvement under Hayen. With Vardy now fit and firing, the visitors' superiority in the final third could prove to be the difference here.

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