So, the first Lincoln City fixture of the 2025/26 season is well and truly under our belts now, we witnessed an entertaining and winning return to Sincil Bank to mark the start of the new season and, after a few days to digest it all, I thought I’d offer my own take on the game, as well as the current squad in general, and look forward to our forthcoming game against Wimbledon.

I have to say, the start of the new season has crept up on me a little bit this year. Based on the perceived lack of incoming signings made by City prior to our opening game, maybe it did for the club as well? However, we managed to gain a comfortable and deserved 2-0 victory over Reading, which nicely papers over any cracks we may still need to fix before the end of the transfer window.

It’s always encouraging to get the season off to a positive start. It felt like a favourable opportunity pre-match to get our campaign up and running – one which we took – and hopefully that can set the tone for some positive early season form. Obviously, you can never quite be sure just how well (or badly) your pre-season training and activity has gone based on a spattering of friendlies against a mix of opposition who are also at their own independent stage of preparation for the upcoming season. But the early signs look good on the evidence of our opening day three points.

The big news prior to the game came with the announcement that Jovon Makama had been left out of the squad for the match following the receipt of a bid for him from a Championship side. His sale to Norwich City for a club record transfer fee has subsequently gone through in the last few days. Although classified as undisclosed, it is believed that a fee of £1.2 million, with the potential for further add-ons, was agreed for his departure to the Carrow Road outfit.

There has been the inevitable mix of responses from City fans online to the news but, in general, there appears to be genuine goodwill that he goes on and proves himself to be a success at a higher level and that this is also a good piece of business that the club has done as well.

Personally speaking, Makama’s potential was not always abundantly clear to see but he really came to the fore during the latter half of last season when the change in the team set-up allowed him to thrive in a wider attacking role on the right, rather than being the main central striker. Despite his late season form, I know there are some fans who still weren’t won over by him, but it felt like the majority (me included) saw him as being a key player for us this season. I guess that goes some way to explain why there was some disappointment initially about the news, especially alongside the departures of other important players that we have already seen over the summer.

Back to the game itself and I felt that whilst it was by no means comprehensive, the victory was well earned and relatively comfortable once we secured the killer second goal. Reading were well backed in terms of number of fans who made the trip north, but their team rarely gave them too much to shout about during the game, save for a couple of short spells of pressure and two efforts that hit the post. For them, I’m sure it is just a relief that their long-running ownership issues have now been resolved and this can still provide them with a feel-good factor in the meantime despite their opening day defeat.

Both of City’s new signings made the starting line-up and produced composed performances on their debuts as part of the back four. Sonny Bradley looks like a solid acquisition at centre-back. It’s unlikely we’ll see him dribbling out of the defence or knocking too many cultured passes around the pitch, but he certainly looks the type who will win his battles, put his head in where it hurts, get the ball cleared when it’s required and generally be a warrior in defence when our backs are against the wall. Could he become a new fans favourite in the Bozzy mould of a few years ago?

At left-back, Ryley Towler also put in an excellent performance and can be pleased with his first outing in an Imps shirt too. Physically, he looks like he will be much better suited to a centre-back role, however, he did nothing wrong during the game. My hope would be that in due course we will only need to rely on him as cover at left-back, rather than him being a permanent fixture in that position.

Our newly installed captain, Tendayi Darikwa, put in his usual accomplished performance and really set the tone at times for the rest of the team with his pressing and work rate on the right-hand side. Adam Jackson, fresh from signing a new contract with the club over the summer, completed the back four and put in one of his usual no-nonsense displays.

The opening goal owed much to a player who it almost felt like was also making his own debut for the club. Although it took a healthy deflection off a Reading defender to send the ball into the back of the net, Rob Street can take the bulk of the credit for the way he latched on George Wickens’ long ball and burst towards the opposition goal to create the chance. It was intriguing to see his performance after the frustrations of last season when he barely got any gametime for us, before a hugely successful loan spell at Doncaster Rovers following his move during the January transfer window.

In all likelihood, Street probably wouldn’t have started the game had it not been for the late withdrawal of Jovon Makama. However, despite having to play in a slightly more unfamiliar role to his favoured centre-forward position, he put in a really good shift on the right of the attack, looking dangerous at times. I’m sure he will be hoping for some opportunities to play through the middle this season and this may well come, as while James Collins is definitely seen as our main striker, he certainly isn’t going to be able to start every game, so chances for the likes of Street and Freddie Draper will prevail.

In terms of Collins, he didn’t get a sniff of a chance against Reading but looked lively and will clearly be a key player for the team this season based on what we saw following his signing in January. His experience and know-how will be valuable to his younger teammates and hopefully he’s capable of reaching a decent goals tally based on the ten he managed in the second half of last season. I thought there were moments on Saturday when you could see the potential for a good partnership brewing between him and Jack Moylan, playing in the role just behind him. Jack missed a big chunk of the latter half of last season, so will barely have played any minutes with Collins, but can learn a lot from him and hopefully build a successful link up with him the more gametime they have together.

On the left, Reeco Hackett marked his performance with a goal. It was a great run inside and he had the composure to finish the chance off smartly, cooly slotting it past the keeper. Hopefully that will give him a heap of confidence to take into our upcoming fixtures and he can add a bit of consistency to his game. The talent is there but too often we only see it in fits and starts.

I can’t mention the goal without adding a huge amount of praise for Connor McGrandles. Not only was it a fantastic through-ball to provide the assist for Hackett’s goal, but his general performance in the heart of the midfield was excellent. He was on the receiving end of a fair bit of unwarranted stick last season from some fans, so he thoroughly deserves the plaudits he’s been getting for the way he played on Saturday. Alongside him, Tom Bayliss, fresh from signing a three-year extension to his contract, put in an assured display.

As far as the squad is looking, there have been no further incomings this week as yet since the Reading game. It’s fair to say that there is anticipation from City fans that this needs to change before the end of the transfer window, especially with recent funds that have been generated, and it’s clear from messages coming out of the club that they feel the same too.

The clear priority at this time appears to be the need for a recognised left-back to be brought in. As mentioned earlier, I think Ryley Towler offers some good cover there but it would be worrying if he ended up being our mainstay in that position. Following the departure of Ethan Erhahon, you would expect that we will also be in the hunt to bring in a new central midfielder. I imagine there would be some huge concerns from the fanbase if we don’t see any recruitment in these two positions.

With Makama also now departed to Norwich City, it will be interesting to see if the club look to bring in a new addition to replace him or if they feel we have enough options to cover that area. Personally, I’d like to see another wide player brought in but it’s clearly not as imperative as other positions just mentioned. The real intrigue is whether the money we have accrued from the departures of Roughan, Erhahon and Makama is going to be invested into new permanent signings or if we will be mainly searching the loan market to fill these spaces.

Based on the expected additions that we hope to see, it feels to me like we have a very capable squad in place and one that I think can match where we finished last season. Time will tell if any players we bring in between now and the end of August have the ability to help push us on and challenge for the play-off places, although I think it may be a tough ask.

As for our upcoming game away at Wimbledon on Saturday, I imagine that the opening day result and performance will have given the squad a healthy amount of confidence. Wimbledon were a little unfortunate to come away with nothing from their opening fixture at title favourites Luton and they will be no pushover, but it is certainly a game that we can go into without any fear.