Beaten 3-0 by the Red Imps in the Papa John's Trophy group stages at Oakwell in late August and 1-0 in their league fixture in Barnsley in October, Michael Duff's side will be seeking to redress the balance this evening, while being mindful to the extent of their task.

On Lincoln, whose reputation as draw specialists should not mask the fact that they have lost just once in the league on home soil throughout 2022-23, head coach Duff said: "Their record against the top sides is excellent and against us, it's impeccable.

"The noise that says they have 'nothing to play for'.... They are professional footballers and want to win.

"When a team in mid-table doesn't perform at this stage of the season, it's the old cliches of 'oh, they don't care - they have got their saddles on already.' It is not the case, sometimes you just don't play very well.

"Hopefully that does happen to them on Tuesday, but we will be expecting the best version of Lincoln, which is a well-coached, hard-to-beat team.

"They have lost the same amount of games as us and from their point of view, they will be disappointed that they have not converted more of those draws.

"But it tells you everything about them being a hard team to beat and they have lost just once all season at home."

Despite the odd bump in the road, Barnsley's away form has been pretty consistent, with Duff's side having the best defensive record on their travels in the third tier - they have conceded 19 goals in 21 matches.

Duff continued: "Our consistency levels have been pretty good.

"Maybe we were a bit more inconsistent at the start when we were a new team and needed to get an understanding.

"We have been beaten away from home recently, but not because we have stunk the joint out.

"Sometimes, the opposition were good or we have also been on the wrong side of refereeing decisions.

"Against Morecambe and Exeter, we were poor and against Plymouth, we were terrible. But I don't think you can accuse the players of a lack of application or effort or attitude.

"They have been really consistent in that. Performances have been up and down, but application hasn't."

On his side’s outside hopes of breaking into the top two, he added: “The message is ‘keep doing what we are doing.’

"At the start, it was 'can we get in the top half' and then 'the top ten and top six' and now it's the top two. The players have got to stay consistent in what they are doing.

"People find a story for their own narrative and we'll just do what we can.

"We might win the next five games and still finish outside of the top two. It is out of our control. We will do our best and see where we end up."

Last six games: Lincoln LLDWWW; Barnsley WLWLWW.

Referee: S Mather (Lancashire).

Last time: Lincoln 0 Barnsley 1, August 11, 2009; League Cup.

Lincoln City v Barnsley FC: Duff issues warning ahead of trip to 'impeccable' Red Imps