A win for Grant McCann's men at the LNER Stadium will secure an instant return to the Championship.

Hosts Lincoln City, meanwhile, still have automatic promotion aspirations of their own and would move to within eight points of the Tigers with two games in hand with a victory.

The Imps go into the game on the back of three straight wins without conceding, whilst leaders Hull City are unbeaten in 12.

Team news

Lincoln are slowly putting their huge injury problems behind them and will be buoyed by leading goalscorer Jorge Grant's return to the fold in Tuesday's win at Burton Albion.

Boss Michael Appleton, meanwhile, has revealed that captain Liam Bridcutt and striker Tom Hopper should return to the squad, whilst left back Cohen Bramall, who missed Tuesday's game, is fully fit again.

The Imps are expected to still be without first choice centre half pair Joe Walsh and Adam Jackson, however. 

Hull have a full squad to choose from after George Honeyman and Reece Burke both returned in time for the midweek draw with Sunderland

Ones to watch

Lincoln's Brennan Johnson bagged a hat-trick in his last appearance at the LNER Stadium and has since been linked with a multi-million pound move to Leeds United or Burnley - from parent club Nottingham Forest.

The youngster has been involved in 25 of Lincoln's goals this season and is a real threat as both a forward or attacking midfielder.

For the TigersJosh Magennis will be looking to add to his tally of 17 for the season, which has seen the playmaker score five goals in his last five appearances.

Lincoln will also have to be wary of in-form duo Mallik Wilks and Keane Lewis-Potter who have 20 and 12 goals respectively.

What the managers have said

Lincoln boss Michael Appleton heaped praise on the Tigers to the media ahead of the tie.

“They’ve got a massive squad and good budget," he said.

"I’m not trying to undermine any job that Grant [McCann] has done though. He’s done a fantastic job.

“It’s difficult when you get relegated from the Championship. If you’re not at it, you can end up being in this division for a long time.

“They’ve done brilliantly to put themselves in this position. But they’ve got a very, very good squad.

“Their so-called second team would complete really well in this division as well. Good players, decent style of play and I expected them to be around the top places in the division." 

For Hull, manager Grant McCann reiterated to the club's web site that the focus is simply on winning the game rather than the promotion at stake.

“We feel calm and confident and we approach each game as it comes,” he said.

“There’s a real focus and the boys were ready to prepare for Lincoln as soon as the Sunderland game finished. We’ve got three games left and we’ll focus on each one as it comes. 

“I’ve been really pleased with the way the players have remained grounded throughout the whole season, even when we’ve lost games. 

“We’ll just go there to try and win the game. We’ll be calm and focused. Lincoln have had a bit of a resurgence since coming back off a two-week break and have got some of their injured players back. They seem to have got a bit of form going at the right time and they’ve been up and around the top two or three for most of the season. They’re a good team that pose a real danger and have real threats so we’ll have to be good again.

“We’ll go there and focus on our own performance because if we can get that right, then nine times out of ten we feel as though we can get the result.”

Predicted lineups

Lincoln (4-3-3): Palmer; Poole, Eyoma, Montsma, Bramall; Grant, McGrandles, Edun; Johnson, Hopper, Rogers.

Hull (4-3-3): Ingram; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Elder; Slater, Docherty, Honeyman; Lewis-Potter, Wilks, Magennis.

Previous meeting

The two sides played out a rather drab goalless draw at the KCOM Stadium back in February.

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How to watch

The game kicks off at 15:00 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.

 

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