EFL Trophy - The Imps (A)
Team - Lincoln City
Date - 02/09/2025 18:00
Where - Sincil Bank

What would your starting line-up be? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

I think that this EFL Trophy match should be used to give some of the fringe players a chance to show what they can do.

I would like to see Jarvis, Edwards, Hinchy, Kouhyar, Traoré, Macari & Hall given a go for this one.

I would normally want Notts to field their strongest team possible in a cup match, however I think it is important that these players get some match time.

Notts could still have their strongest players on the bench if required, but after the win against Tranmere, I think the emphasis should be on being well prepared for the Fleetwood challenge at ML next Saturday.

The key areas for Notts would be the areas where these fringe players are asked to play to find out how they perform against League one opposition. I think the performance is much more important than the result.

I think we should give Harry Griffiths a start, as others have previously said.

Defense-wise, I am not sure where to make changes. I would probably hope to see the same line-up in this regard as we had against Tranmere. If Scott Robertson is back, I would think giving him minutes would be useful to see him return to league game action. Though I doubt we would drop Matt Palmer, I think Ollie Norburn still needs game time to up his match fitness and return to playing regularly after his injury.

Will Keenan Bennetts make a return to the starting XI? He can be brilliant going forward, but I question his ability to defend.

Nick Tsaroulla is a must for me; we need to see him being consistent.

Couldn't agree more about giving Harry Griffith the keepers shirt...just hope he does well and keeps Roos sidelined to the subs bench...

The Notts team to face Lincoln tonight.

Interesting set of players. Who will play RWB? Will there be a RWB? What about Edwards, is he injured?

We have 3 RCBs, will they stay within 5 yards of each other on the right? or will they space out to cover the whole defensive line :) ?

Tonight’s performance might tell us why we didn’t sign anyone on deadline day. Hopefully!

It’s nice to see some fringe players getting a start, this is their chance to stake a claim in the next match and give MP a problem when he picks the team for Saturday.

Big opportunity for Harrison Iwunze tonight.

The match is underway

It’s kind of strange how loads of players who were missing have come back all of a sudden for the EFL Trophy match. Some of them, like Mai Traore and Will Jarvis, we haven’t even heard much about lately.

I know the club said Scott Robertson might be back, but it still feels odd how they’ve gone from being out to suddenly playing. Is it just me who thinks that’s a bit random?

I really hope they do well and show what they can do. We need everyone fit and ready so we can keep going strong.

Goal to Lincoln. Corner blues again for Notts.

Update

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Half Time

Lincoln 1 Notts 0

Back to it.

Update.

Lincoln score their 2nd.

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Substitutes for Notts

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Lincoln score their third.

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Full Time.

Lincoln 3 Notts 0

We could have been level at half time. Another goal conceded from a corner. Lincoln took their chances. They have that extra bit of quality which you'd expect them to have.

A good workout for the Notts fringe & leading Academy players. The result wasn't important but the performance from the players that are trying to force themselves into the first eleven is

Some questions were answered tonight. I think Lucas Ness is worth a start instead of Aljofree. Mai Traoré in my opinion isn't good enough even at fringe player level.

Iwunze looks as though he could be useful off the bench with some nice touches when he came on.

I thought Martin Paterson’s comments after the match didn’t quite match up with what he’d said before. Credit to Nick from the media team for asking about the young players and whether that’s the kind of coach Paterson wants to be. It’s not a question that was put to Luke Williams or Stuart Maynard, but it’s good to see younger lads getting a chance. It’s not the same as a league game, though, where the senior players have earned their place in the starting eleven.

I’m a bit worried about Will Jarvis. It sounds like someone stepped on his hand, and that can be really painful. I didn’t expect a win, and I thought Lincoln would find it fairly easy. From the highlights, the defending by Notts wasn’t great. Poor Harry Griffiths had no chance, and that’s not a knock on his ability.

Notts did have a few chances, but the team was made up of players who needed minutes. That can mean they’re not at their best, and Paterson will hopefully know that mistakes can happen. The result doesn’t matter too much. He was right to rest players and keep them fresh for Saturday.

3 hours ago, TheSkipper said:

The result doesn’t matter too much. He was right to rest players and keep them fresh for Saturday.

Too right @TheSkipper, any competition where an advantage is given to the top-level teams by developing U21s against us isn't worth respecting anyway. Bin it and onto Fleetwood.

Has Hincy joined the Kelle Roos colourblind Club. ?? or did he deliberately pass the ball to the Lincoln striker???????

Imps 3 Notts County 0 | Lincoln City Football Club

The Imps kicked off their 2025/26 Vertu Trophy campaign with an emphatic 3-0 win over Sky Bet League Two opponents Notts County.

I thought Scott Robertson had a good game, although a little overwhelmed at times by the quantity of Lincoln players surrounding him, just like the alamo.

Alot of positives can be taken, as mentioned by @Robbie utilising Academy and fringe players to give them opportunity and giving players coming back from injury game time.