Leicester licked and Solihull sunk as Clarets and Imps begin the build up to the FA Cup tie

Since my last post on Tuesday the Imps and the Clarets have been in league action as the build up to their FA Cup tie on the 18^th February on the Road to Wembley from Scotland begins. Both of the protagonists won by a single goal and in both cases they maintain their superb league form.

After their thrilling victory over Brighton last Saturday it was always going to be difficult for Lincoln City to get themselves up for a Vanarama National League game away at Solihull Moors on Tuesday night. They benefited from a huge travelling support of over 1100 Imps fans in a crowd of 1650. Remarkably the visiting fans outnumbered the home support by a ratio of 3:1. This helped the Lincoln City players to concentrate on the job in hand and although they did not play anywhere near as well as they had against Brighton 3 days earlier they crawled over the line by a 1-0 scoreline.

Imps scorer Jack Muldoon celebrates the winning goal on Tuesday night

Scotwatch: On transfer deadline day on Monday the Imps transferred their only player with Scottish connections. Theo Robinson, who played for Motherwell last season, is on the move again. Next to benefit from the surrogate Scot’s goalscoring talents will be Southend United of League Two. Best wishes for the future to Robinson. Theo’s last goal for the Imps will now be recorded as the goal that famously knocked Brighton and Hove Albion out of the FA Cup. His departure means that in the current Lincoln City squad there are now no Scots and no players with Scottish connections. Despite this, they seem to be doing surprisingly well and if they can continue to grind out important wins in the league while their minds are inevitably on the FA Cup then they should get promoted into the EFL.

Meanwhile in the north west Burnley entertained the League Champions Leicester City. The game was settled by a single goal that was shrouded in controversy. Many at Turf Moor believed that Sam Vokes had handled the ball deliberately before turning to score in the 88^th minute of the match. Burnley have an awesome home record and have won 9 of their 12 home league matches this season. In fact they have won 28 of their 29 points at Turf Moor.

Clarets scorer Sam Vokes salutes the Turf Moor crowd on Tuesday night

Scotwatch: The man of the match on Tuesday was a player with notorious Scottish connections, Joey Barton. Barton began the season with Glasgow Rangers and this blog will explore his time in Scotland in more detail in a post next week. The controversial character was however, by all accounts, in fine form in midweek and is reported to have run the show. Kent born Scottish international George Boyd played all 90 minutes and formed an effective combination with Barton in midfield. Scotsman Scott Arfield, now a Canadian international, came on as a first half substitute for the injured Defour and acquitted himself well.

What were the odds on that? Joey Barton, once of Rangers, named Man of the Match on Tuesday

The Burnley win has moved them up in to the top half of the Premier Division league table. They are now clear of any relegation worries. Hence, I am hoping that they can now view the FA Cup as a priority and field their strongest XI against Lincoln City in a fortnight. My ‘Road to Wembley from Scotland’ has been blemished slightly in the last three rounds by clubs (namely Brighton and Charlton Athletic) not selecting their best teams as they wanted to keep key players fresh for league fixtures. The gravelly voiced Burnley manager Sean Dyche strikes me as a man who will have full respect for the traditions of the FA Cup and go all out to win not just the round 5 tie but the Cup itself. Dyche has history in this famous old football competition as he played for Chesterfield in a semi final tie against Middlesbrough in the mid nineties when Chesterfield were in the third tier of English football.

The Burnley v Lincoln City tie has been selected for live TV coverage by BT Sport and because of this the match will now kick off at 1230 on the 18^th February. Only two weeks to go and the sense of anticipation is already palpable. Before that the Imps and the Clarets have other important fixtures to fulfil. Tomorrow Lincoln City travel to Welling for an FA Trophy tie while also in the south the Clarets play away at Watford in a Premier Division fixture. Will the Lincoln lads whack Welling? Will the Clarets sting the Hornets? Come back here on Sunday to find out … and keep reading.