Lincoln United have kick-started their pre-season campaign, with six of their seven games still to come before the regular season kicks off at the end of July.
The squad started training for the upcoming campaign in uncharacteristic summer rain on Saturday, June 15, as the new management team had their first chance to see their players in action.
Speaking to The Linc, manager Scott Hellewell said it was a long time coming and was seemingly relishing the chance to get back on the grass, to use the old footballing phrase.
He said: “We’ve added a couple more games just because there’s a lot of lads at the club, especially the younger lads, that we haven’t seen a lot of. So, we wanted to add an extra couple games to have a look at everyone, and give them a fair crack of the whip.”
The former Winterton Rangers also explained that he would try out various different formations during the seven game pre-season campaign. In their opener, they employed a 3-5-2.
“The main reason why we have done [a few more games] is to get a look at different players, maybe have a look at them in different positions, try and find a plan A and plan B with formations,” he added.
The busy pre-season schedule sees The Whites play seven games in 22 days.
They started with a 4-0 win at Scunthorpe-based Appleby Frodingham on Tuesday, July 2, before a trip to Loughborough Students on Saturday, July 6.
They will follow that up with a duo of home games: first against the management team’s former side Winterton on Tuesday, July 9, and then Russ Wilcox’s Gainsborough Trinity on Saturday, July 13.
Lincoln then face Newark Town away from home on Wednesday, July 17, before finishing pre-season with two games at the Sun-hat Villas & Resorts Stadium. First, they welcome Northern Premier League outfit Basford United (Saturday, July 20), before Lincoln City under-21s take a trip across the city (Wednesday, July 24).
Hellewell said: “It’s always good playing these bigger teams, like Gainsborough and Basford, it’s different when you’re playing the teams lower down in terms of how they set out. These bigger teams are going to come at you, and we have to show a different side to us.”
The regular season kicks off on the weekend of Saturday, July 27, as Lincoln United set their sights on promotion into step four.
