Town manager Kieran McKenna says the Blues will be facing a stubborn opponent when they take on Lincoln City at Sincil Bank, where the Imps are still to be beaten in the league this season, on Monday afternoon.
The Imps, who are 17th in League One following the New Year's Day fixtures, 21 points behind the Blues, are the only side undefeated on their own turf in the division, but have won only twice, drawing nine of their Sincil Bank fixtures, including Friday’s 1-1 stalemate with Bolton Wanderers in which they had defender Joe Walsh red-carded for a second bookable offence just after the hour mark.
In total, Lincoln, who are managed by former Town left-back and academy coach Mark Kennedy, have drawn 10 of their 22 League One matches - only Fleetwood having recorded more draws during 2022/23 - while losing six times, all on their travels.
The Imps are currently without a win in four in the league, having lost 3-0 at Burton on Boxing Day prior to their draw with Bolton.
Town fans won’t need reminding that Lincoln are one of the three sides to have beaten the Blues in League One this season, 1-0 at Portman Road in October, despite McKenna’s men having had 77 per cent possession and racking up 33 shots, but only five on target.
Asked what makes the Imps so hard to beat, McKenna said: "I think they are a team who are really comfortable and probably most comfortable when they don't have the ball.
"They're really happy to be in shape and defend really well in shape, to not give up many spaces in dangerous areas and to play on the counter-attack and play on set plays.
"And they've been doing it very effectively, not just at the game at Portman Road. For the first 25 minutes we had real control and territory of the game but struggled to create chances and, of course, then they got a goal from a set play, and it’s going to be very difficult then.
"To be fair, after that I think it's the most chances that anyone has created against them this season by far and we did a lot of good things in the game.
"But I think if you look at the start of that game, that's probably been typical of how they've performed against a lot of the big teams and it was very similar against Bolton the other night.
"Not much possession but a good defensive shape. Good organisation, good pressure at times, but especially defending in a defensive block and looking to counter-attack and also being a threat on set plays.
"They've done it well, not just against us but against other teams in the league. They've done it well in the cups as well, beating Bristol City in the Carabao Cup with a similar record, and went very close against Southampton in a very similar type of game as well.
"I think that's the reason why. I think they're very comfortable in that nature of a game and we have to be ready for that challenge and make sure we do the right things to make it uncomfortable for them.”
Has the game at Portman Road been reviewed ahead of Monday's match? Was there much you could learn from that game?
"We did pretty briefly after that,” McKenna continued. "I think it was a good game to look back on because you can look at it in one way and say it was unlucky because they had three shots in the game and we had 30-plus, and they scored more goals than us.
"You can say it's unlucky and look at the chances we missed and say that we should have won the game.
"But on the other hand, there are things we can improve and we looked at that after the game and focused on the things that we could improve. Some of them we did in the next games and continue to work on now.
"I think there are things that we can look at for sure, but the reality is that teams have attacked them in different ways, teams have gone at them directly, teams have attacked them in different spaces and they're good at defending on shape.
"We know it's not going to be easy because they are a stubborn opponent, especially for the bigger teams who want to dominate the game.
"So we're looking back on the game this week and picking up different things, but I think in general we know the gist of the main challenge in the game.”
McKenna, whose side will be backed by another sell-out away end at Sincil Bank, says he first crossed paths with Imps boss Kennedy during their time in youth football.
"I came across him a few times when he was in the academy at Man City, but I didn’t have too many direct interactions, he was working with the younger age groups,” he recalled.
"But I’ve spoken to him a few times over the last year as a ex-Ipswich man and somebody who still has a house in the area and he was at a few of our games last year, so I had some conversations with him and we spoke after the game at Portman Road.
"He’s done a really good job getting them as solid as they are and as resolute as they are and as hard to beat, and they’ve done some clever recruitment of young players that they’ve brought across from Ireland and different places to have a good young, hungry, fit group and Mark’s got them well-organised, so that makes them a stubborn opponent.”
Having been in action on Friday, a day after the Blues’ game at Portsmouth, Kennedy’s team have 24 hours less in which to prepare. Does McKenna believe that will have any impact?
"Let’s hope so!” he laughed. "Let’s see. They’ve had a day fewer to prepare but they’re at home, so it’s always easier to recover quicker from two home games and they had Bolton at home and now they’re at home again.
"When you take the travel time out of that and, not to go on about it anymore, there’s a lot of sickness in our camp and it’s a challenge getting players into training at the moment.
"From a physical point of view, maybe it’ll even out a little bit and we have to focus on ourselves and make sure we have a fit group ready to play the game.”
Second-guessing McKenna’s side for the trip to Sincil Bank is near impossible given the illness situation, the Blues boss having said almost everyone has had symptoms over the last week with two players sent home from Saturday training and taking antibiotics.
The Blues manager might have been looking to make changes in any case with the visit to Sincil Bank Town's third game in eight days.
Ideally, if everyone is available, McKenna would probably want to start with Christian Walton in goal and Janoi Donacien, Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess in their usual roles but with George Edmundson and Richard Keogh alternatives.
Leif Davis and Wes Burns will be in their wide positions assuming they’re well enough with Greg Leigh and Kane Vincent-Young potential replacements if not.
In central midfield, skipper Sam Morsy and Lee Evans would be McKenna’s number one choice with Cameron Humphreys an option should one of them not make it.
Twelve-goal top scorer Conor Chaplin and Marcus Harness appear to be the Blues’ boss’s favoured pairing in the number 10 positions but with Sone Aluko and Kyle Edwards alternative selections.
Freddie Ladapo is again likely to be the central striker with Kayden Jackson the other option.
The Blues go into the match seven points behind leaders Plymouth following the Pilgrims' 3-1 home victory over the MK Dons on New Year's Day, while third-placed Sheffield Wednesday are at home to Cambridge United on Monday.
Lincoln will be without Walsh following his dismissal against Bolton, but had forward Daniel Mandroiu back in the team facing the Trotters after injury.
Town have the edge historically having won nine games between the teams (eight in the league) with five (three) ending in draws and seven (six) won by the Imps.
In October, Ben House’s first-half goal saw Lincoln City win 1-0 at Portman Road, their first victory away against Town since September 1954 and the Blues’ first home league defeat of the season.
House headed home from close range in the 24th minute with Town unable to find a way through the Imps’ determined backline, despite creating plenty of second-half chances, failing to score for the first time in League One this season.
Last time at Sincil Bank in September last year, Town’s wait for a first win of the 2021/22 season finally ended as Macauley Bonne’s 30th-minute goal saw the Blues to a 1-0 victory over his former loan club Lincoln.
The on-loan QPR striker headed home Hayden Coulson’s left-wing cross with the Blues withstanding Imps pressure in the second half to claim their first three-point haul of the season.
Imps manager Kennedy made 34 starts and three sub appearances for Town between July 2010 and July 2012, before joining the academy staff and taking charge of the U21s.
Lincoln midfielder Teddy Bishop moved to Sincil Bank in the summer of 2021 from the Blues for a fee understood to be £220,000 after joining Town as an U8.
The Cambridge-born schemer went on to make 81 starts and 51 sub appearances, scoring five times.
Currently injured Blues loanee Tyreece John-Jules was on loan at Sincil Bank during the second half of 2019/20, netting once in seven starts.
Monday’s referee is Declan Bourne from Nottinghamshire, who has shown 46 yellow cards and four red in 12 games so far this season.
Bourne, who is in his third season as an EFL referee, will be taking charge of his first Town match.
Squad from: Walton, Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Keogh, Burgess, Burns, Vincent-Young, Davis, Leigh, Morsy, Evans, Humphreys, Edwards, Chaplin, Harness, Aluko, Ladapo, Jackson, Ahadme.