The Imps hope to have turned a corner after coming from two goals down to draw with play-off rivals Blackpool on Saturday.

Michael Appleton's side have fallen away from the automatic promotion picture having won just once in eight outings at the LNER Stadium, but will take a lot of heart from that battling display against the Seasiders.

The Dons, meanwhile, have failed to score in their last two games after previously winning three on the bounce to put themselves in play-off contention.

Lincoln City are set to rotate their squad with several players lacking full fitness having returned from both injury and coronavirus setbacks. 

Joe Walsh, Anthony Scully and Harry Anderson, who all made substitute appearances on Saturday, are likely to play from the start this time. 

Captain Liam Bridcutt, leading goalscorer Jorge Grant and striker Tom Hopper are all still out, however. 

Dons boss Russell Martin is likely to keep faith with the side that was unlucky not to come away from Ipswich with three points on Saturday.

Irish defender Warren O'Hora, meanwhile, has been ruled out for the rest of the season through injury, whilst Cameron Jerome and Louis Thompson are expected to miss out again. 

  • Ones to watch

Lincoln forward Anthony Scully will be looking to build on his game-changing cameo appearance on Saturday. The Irishman came on with 18 minutes to play and scored one and made another to earn his side an unlikely point.

Regan Poole, Joe Walsh and Conor McGrandles, meanwhile, who all signed for the Imps from the Dons in recent times, will be hoping to get one over their former employers. 

After struggling to justify his price tag at parent club Sunderland, loanee Will Grigg will be looking to continue to get his career back on track and add to his three goals from 11 appearances back at MK Dons.

  • What the managers have said

Lincoln boss Michael Appleton told the local press he expects a different kind of challenge than that posed by Blackpool in his side's previous game.

“They probably will (play with freedom) but, to be fair, they do that anyway," he said.

"They like to pass the ball. It will be very different.

“I knew Blackpool were direct but I didn’t realise how direct they were until today. So it’s going to be a completely different game on Tuesday with two sides who want to build and create momentum in the final third.”

MK Dons manager Russell Martin paid tribute to Tuesday's opponents, but is confident his side can get something from the game.

"I don’t think you can take anything away from Appleton and I’m sure Lincoln will want to finish their season in the playoffs," he said. 

"Every game is massive for them and they’ll want to cement their place, but we’re going in good form with good performance levels."

  • Predicted lineups

​​​​​​​Lincoln (4-3-3): Palmer; Poole, Walsh, Jackson, Bramall; Anderson, McGrandles, Edun; Johnson, Scully, Rogers.

MK Dons (3-5-2): Fisher; Lewington, Darling, Jules; Laird, O'Riley, Surman, McEachran, Harvie; Fraser, Grigg. 

  • Previous meeting

Lincoln emerged victorious when the two sides met on the second weekend of the season.​​​​​​​

Goals from Jorge Grant and Tom Hopper did the damage for the Imps that day, whilst Joe Mason was on target for the Dons.

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The game kicks off at 19:00 BST on Saturday. The game is available on each club’s respective iFollow service, priced at £10 for UK viewers and £7 for international fans.