Driving home for Christmas.

City carried on where they left off at Sincil Bank yesterday comfortably seeing off Stevenage as they had done Accrington previously. It wasn’t all plain sailing though and when they went ahead if anything it was slightly against the run of play.

Not that we’re going to let that bother us. City had, by all accounts been struggling with illness before Christmas, tell me about it, but when it came to the crunch they played with their now usual swagger to sweep away Stevenage’s resolve. Those early days of toil now seem an age away as the Imps firmly grasp the challenge before them and now find themselves in the top three.

If you’d have told me City could be in the promotion places by Christmas at the start of the season I’d have believed you to be honest. The realisation of the task ahead and quality of opponents knocked us all back a little, no one more than me but the fact that City would eventually start to get to grips with all that is not a surprise.

I do have to say, as you will no doubt, no one won promotion at Christmas and if anything the worst is yet to come in terms of weather and injuries and suspensions take their toll on a small squad (there, even I’m saying that now) but as to the conditions, if ever a squad was made for the English winter, if ever an attitude was right to overcome adversity, if ever the mentality was there to override the shenanigans and mind games of opponents and managers and clamber through it all to reach the sunlight at the end of the season we’re watching the embodiment of it, no more so than yesterday.

Yet it has been far from plain sailing whether the attitude was right or not but yesterday was surely something of a rarity to see an entire team plus subs, illness or not, all play well, some exceptionally so. Matt Green, where has that millstone gone? Matt Rhead, I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard such a reception as when you left the field. Neal Eardley (again) do you ever have an off day? Raggett, Anderson, I could go on.

So to another home game next Saturday, another big gate against Forest Green Rovers. Poor FGR (as in not very good). Bottom of the league, you were heading for the championship weren’t you? Will City go easy on them?

Answers please on a postcard.