Remarkable Lincoln City stat is a warning to Oxford, Stevenage and Blackpool: View | OneFootball

Michael Skubala has got his Lincoln City firing on all cylinders as the race for the League One play-off places intensifies, and the Imps are looking like the team to be scared of in the race for the top six.

With 16 goals scored in their last three fixtures and no defeat in their last 13 league games, the SIncil Bank side have rocketed up the division since the start of the calendar year, and find themselves two points off of a playoff place at time of writing.

But it is not just their imperious form in front of goal that has caught the attention of late, with their defensive actions proving them to be one of the stingiest sides in the EFL, let alone just their division.

With the goals flowing in for them at the other end of the pitch, coupled with a side that has kept 17 clean sheets from their 39 league games this season, it is the perfect formula for a promotion-winning side, and their playoff rivals will be wary of the test they will be up against.

Lincoln City 23/24 season - Michael Skubala revolution at Sincil Bank

After a slow start to life as a full-time manager, Skubala has got the very best out of his City side of late, with the Imps last suffering defeat on New Year’s Day.

The former Leeds United assistant [pictured] was appointed into his first post as a head coach in mid-November following the dismissal of Mark Kennedy, and picked up just two wins from his first 13 league games in charge.

But eight wins from their last ten matches has turned the form book on its head, with Lincoln going from also-rans to favourites to earn themselves a playoff spot, with an out-of-sorts Oxford United side standing in their way at the minute.

The U’s have been in free fall of late, with Des Buckingham unable to halt a slide down the division, having taken over from Liam Manning with the side vying for the automatic promotion places.

Fellow playoff chasers Stevenage are a side who have also found points and wins hard to come by of late, with Steve Evans earning just nine points from their last 30 available, while Blackpool’s form continues to be temperamental although they find themselves just a point back from City as it stands.

But with such a solid base to build upon, it looks like it would take a huge dip in form to stop Lincoln’s assault on the top six, with just four league goals conceded in their last 13 games building unbridled confidence in the team.

Automatic promotion-chasers Peterborough United and Derby County are among the sides to be shutout during that period, proving just how stoic the defensive unit has been of late, with both sides offering some of the finest attacking talent in the division.

One fundamental part of the puzzle has been the form of Lukas Jensen in goal, with the shot-stopper having the highest save percentage in League One this season with 77.6%

Having played every single minute of the league campaign to date, the former Accrington Stanley loanee is conceding just 0.85 goals per 90 minutes, with the 33 goals he has conceded second only to Will Norris of league-leaders Portsmouth.

His 17 clean sheets only come second to Pompey’s glovesman, while only Jay Lynch (117) of Fleetwood Town and Wigan Athletic’s Sam Tickle (115) can top his 114 saves over the course of the campaign.

With a measure of 15.4 passes per defensive action, only three teams allow their opposition longer in each spell of possession than Lincoln in the current campaign, but Skubala has his side well-drilled at setting up their stall and repelling attacks as soon as they become threatening in their defensive third.

Looking at Opta’s zones of control, you can see that the Imps are happy enough for the opposition to have the ball up until the halfway line, before forcing them to the flanks and trying to force a turnover.

Throw in the fact that City tempted one of the EFL’s most in-form goalscorers to join the club in January, and you can see exactly why they are climbing up the table at a rate of knots.

With 12 goals before the turn of the year for Colchester United in League Two, Luton Town loanee Joe Taylor made the step up a division to move to Sincil Bank two months ago, and has already found the net eight times for his new side.

The 21-year-old has six goals in his last three outings, with a solitary goal against Barnsley followed up with a brace against Cambridge United, before taking the match ball home from a 5-0 win over Bristol Rovers after his first professional hat-trick.

The bright prospect [pictured below] now holds a unique position of being the current top scorer for two separate clubs over the course of a season, having already overtaken Reeco Hackett-Fairchild’s seven strikes this season for his current side.

So to put it plainly, Lincoln City are the team to fear in this season’s League One playoff race; if it wasn’t for a sticky patch after Skubala was appointed they would be even better off as it stands, and we could even be mentioning them in the automatic promotion conversation.

Having trounced Barnsley 5-1 in recent weeks as well as shutting out other sides within the top five, they would fancy their chances if they do make it into the play-offs, with slender margins making all the difference in the post-season shootout.