Nobody sums up the topsy-turvy nature of League Two better than Lincoln.

A run of five wins out of six through October earned Peter Jackson the mantle of manager of the month. Then the Imps limped through November without winning once – and got dumped from the FA Cup at home by non-league Kettering.

But back-to-back wins over Accrington, where they came from a goal down to score five in a madcap final 20 minutes, and Notts County have pushed Lincoln to within four points of the play-offs.

Jackson admitted: “It’s been that kind of division but I’m still a bit disappointed with where we are. We’re six or seven points off where we should be because there are some good players here.

“On our day we can beat anybody. You look at Wycombe, who’ve only been beaten once and are the most consistent side, and we played them off the park.

“But equally, on another day, any team can beat us. That seems to be this division in general.”

As City face Lincoln on Boxing Day for the second year running, Jackson insists that is the only similarity.

He added: “We were nearly bottom of the league at that time and have completely turned it round since. Bradford have done the same and are right up there now.

“Stuart (McCall) has got some decent players in and it’s no surprise that they have been doing well. He’s also got goals in the team.

“You look at the likes of Thorne, Boulding and Conlon, who are all good strikers in double figures or near it. Our top scorer is on six.

“As Stuart will tell you, all managers want their forward players to be in double figures at this time of the year and in and around 20-25 by the end. If you’ve got that in the side, then you will always have a good chance.”

Target man Ben Wright is Lincoln’s biggest doubt after pulling his hamstring at Meadow Lane. If he does not make it, Lenell John-Lewis is likely to get the call to partner Romanian crowd favourite Adrian Patulea.