House starts: The predicted Lincoln City XI to face Shrewsbury on Saturday | OneFootball

Lincoln City are back in League One action on Saturday as they face Shrewsbury Town at the Montgomery Waters Meadow.

The Imps come into the game sitting ninth in the table, just four points from the play-off places in what has been an excellent first season under head coach Mark Kennedy.

It has almost two weeks since they were last in action, with a win on penalties at home to Morecambe in the Papa John’s Trophy in November. Their last league fixture also came against the same opponents, resulting in a 2-1 victory against the Shrimps at the LNER Stadium, with goals from Joe Walsh and Ben House securing the points, despite Jensen Weir halving the deficit late on.

Lincoln are unbeaten on their own patch all season and their away record has been impressive too, including wins at promotion-chasing Oxford United, Ipswich Town, and Barnsley. In fact, the Imps have only lost four times this campaign, with too many draws preventing further progress up the table.

Kennedy, who was assistant manager at Birmingham City prior to joining the club in the summer, has seen his side pick up some outstanding results against some of the bigger teams in the division, but will perhaps want their record to improve against those in and around them.

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TJ Eyoma

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The Shrews come into the game on a poor run of form in the league, with just two points from their last six games. Although they did have some respite with a home win over Peterborough United in the FA Cup last weekend, they were beaten 1-0 by Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough despite a resilient performance two weeks ago.

Steve Cotterill’s side currently sit 16th in the table but look set to avoid any relegation worries as they are nine points clear of the bottom three. They are winless in their last three games in front of their own fans and will want to rectify that this weekend.

Lincoln will be hopeful of the return of striker Danny Mandroiu, who impressed with three goals in seven appearances before picking up an injury that has kept him out for the last month. Fellow frontman Tom Hopper made his comeback against Morecambe to strengthen their attacking options.

Here is the team Kennedy could go for against the Shrews.

Carl Rushworth will reprise his role between the sticks as he looks to keep his sixth clean sheet of the season.

Kennedy will likely stick with the same back three of TJ Eyoma, Paudie O’Connor and Walsh, who have all featured regularly in a defence that has only conceded 21 goals so far this term.

Regan Poole, who we exclusively revealed is attracting interest from Championship sides such as Cardiff City, QPR, Millwall, Luton Town, Huddersfield Town, and Blackpool will line up at right wing-back, with Jamie Robson operating on the other side.

Tashan Oakley-Boothe and Lasse Sorensen are pushing for starts after their substitute appearances against Morecambe, but Kennedy will likely go with Matty Virtue and Max Sanders once again.

Jack Diamond has been in impressive form with five goals on loan from Sunderland and he will form part of the front three out wide along with Charles Vernam. Ben House will retain his starting spot despite Hopper’s return, the 23-year-old is the Imps’ top scorer with six goals in all competitions.