Michael Appleton confirms interesting Lincoln City team news ahead of Sunderland clash

Lincoln City boss Michael Appleton has confirmed that Chris Maguire is in his plans for tomorrow’s game against Sunderland.

The forward, who joined Lincoln from Sunderland, made a big impression against his former club last time the sides met in January as he scored a hat-trick to give Lincoln a 3-1 win, and even celebrated his first goal in front of then Sunderland boss Lee Johnson.

Maguire has only scored two other goals this season and missed out on his side’s Tuesday night trip to Rotherham.

Going into that game, a booking for Maguire would’ve been his tenth of the season and consequently ruled him out for the following two games, which may provide us with some insight of why he wasn’t included in Tuesday’s squad.

Appleton has now confirmed that the 33-year-old will be part of the team for the Sunderland game as he told Lincolnshire Live: “It gets without saying, when he’s fit, available and on it, he’s a big part of what we’re trying to do.

“I’m not going to try and play any silly mind games. As long as he comes through training today he’ll be available tomorrow.”

The Lincoln boss also commented on Maguire’s poor return of goals this season as he said: “The biggest thing I want from him is for his goal tally to be much better than what it is.

“He’s had a big influence in certain games this season, but we want more goals from him and I think he’s aware of that.”

The Verdict:

Appleton’s honest assessment of Maguire’s goalscoring form may have come at a perfect time as he will no doubt be wanting to run riot against his former side like he did in January.

Despite the lack of goals this season, Maguire is a key player for Lincoln anyway and will add a lot to the squad for Saturday’s big game.

However, it is likely that