Martin's best wishes to Lincoln's trio of former Dons

But there will be no room for niceties before Tuesday night's game
Regan Poole left Dons for Lincoln in JanuaryRegan Poole left Dons for Lincoln in January
Regan Poole left Dons for Lincoln in January

Russell Martin and Lincoln City boss Michael Appleton have never spoken about players despite three swapping MK Dons for Lincoln City this season.

Conor McGrandles and Joe Walsh made the move to Sincil Bank in summer, while Regan Poole departed for the Imps in January. Despite the regular business between the clubs though, Martin admitted Appleton have never spoken with him to discuss his players. But he said he was looking forward to see his former players after the sides have played on Tuesday.

"We’ve never spoken about any of the players," he said. "It’s credit to Conor and Walshy then Regan in January playing at right-back where he wanted to. They left with our best wishes they are three top guys, it’ll be nice to see them after the game. I’m sure it’ll be nice to see them all as they are great guys and they all left on good terms. We wish them nothing but the best."

Lincoln are currently fifth in the table but have won just three games in the last two months. The game, originally scheduled for Good Friday, was postponed due to a Covid outbreak amongst the Lincoln squad, but has been moved to Tuesday night (7pm). Despite their slip out of the automatic promotion hunt though, Lincoln remain firmly in contention for the play-off spots and will be eager to correct their slide when they take on Dons.

Martin said: "They’ve been disrupted by Covid and lost a lot of players through injury. I don’t think you can take anything away from Michael Appleton and I’m sure they’ll want to finish their season in the play-offs. Every game is massive for them and they’ll want to cement their place, we’re going in good form with good performance levels.

"He’s got a very good team, he’s changed a lot in terms of the players and the style and it’s showing. We can look at it from afar and see similarities. Full credit for what they’ve done, but it’s a game we are all looking forward too."