IAN BOGIE has warned his players to beware a Lincoln City side coming to the International Stadium today with “fire in the bellies”.
But the Gateshead manager insists that if his team is to sustain its challenge for a place in the Blue Square Bet Premier play-offs, even such recent members of the Football League must be cast aside.
The Imps were relegated from League Two last summer, and are struggling in 18th place, 14 below the Tynesiders.
On Wednesday night they were dumped out of the FA Trophy by Isthmian Premier outfit Carshalton Athletic.
But while Bogie knows the visitors will come “hurting” from that defeat, he knows also that escalating expectation at the club requires his side to claim victory.
“We’re back to our bread and butter on Saturday and it’s a big game for us against Lincoln,” said Bogie (pictured right), who has taken Newcastle United striker Phil Airey on a month’s loan.
“It’ll be a difficult game. They went out of the Trophy on Wednesday night against a team from the lower leagues. They’ll be hurting and they’ll come here with a bit of fire in their bellies.
“But when we’re playing teams like Lincoln, we’ve got to be looking to win. This is how far we’ve come, with the expectations around the place, we’re expected to beat Lincoln, who were a Football League side last season.
“At this moment in time, on form, if we harbour aspirations of being in the top five come the end of the season, it’s a game that we’ve got to be taking three points from.”
The Heed lost at Sincil Bank in September, but Bogie added: “It’s not about revenge.
“On the night we went to Lincoln we were in decent form. They showed great spirit, they were on a sticky run themselves but showed good character to beat us by a single goal on a night I believe we should have got something from. It wasn’t to be.
“They’ve made a lot of changes since then, and brought a new manager in, who’s trying to stamp his authority on the team and bring his beliefs to the club.
“But they are at the minute going through a difficult time. So is it a good time to play them? I would say yes, but we still have to be wary of them. There are no easy games. The games we’ve been expected to win this season, particularly at home, we’ve come unstuck in.
“Every team makes it difficult when they come here, we’ve got to be patient, and at our best to break teams down.”
On Airey, Bogie added: “He is an emerging talent and a player I have admired for some time. He has scored goals for Newcastle reserves and was unfortunate that his time in Scotland (with Hibernian) was curtailed by injury. He leads the line well and is very quick.”
