Sil Swinkels insisted Lincoln City are a ‘strong’ team ahead of Bristol Rovers’ trip to the Imps on Saturday.
The Gas are without a win on their travels since beating Cambridge United 1-0 in their first away game of 2025. However, they will be confident heading into the upcoming contest after back-to-back wins at The Memorial Stadium.
Ruel Sotiriou struck the only goal in Rovers’ victory against Huddersfield Town before Connor Taylor headed in the winner in the latter stages of a five-goal thriller versus Bolton Wanderers to stretch the gap between the Pirates and the relegation zone to nine points.
Swinkels played the full fixture against the Trotters and was delighted with the ‘deserved’ victory and hopes his side can take their recent form into the game against Lincoln.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I think it was a good game overall. We’re just very happy to get over the line with Connor Taylor’s late header, but it’s just a great team effort. I think we deserved it.
“We hoped to get away with a couple more points from the three games before that, but the last two games have been really good, and obviously, at The Mem, we are more confident and stronger, and hopefully, we can take that momentum into Saturday as well.”
Swinkels joined the Gas on loan from Aston Villa in the January transfer window to bolster the defensive options. The Dutchman netted the equaliser on his Rovers debut for the Gas, coming off the bench three times and being an unused substitute against Northampton before getting his chance in the team.
The centre-back has started the last four matches in League One and has enjoyed being in the team.
“It has been lovely,” said Swinkels. “I’ve really been enjoying it. That’s what I came here for, and I just wanted to get minutes under my belt. To finally be able to do that now and help the team has been really good.”
After the Gas’ 3-2 defeat to Rotherham at The Memorial Stadium, Iñigo Calderón decided to switch to a three-centre-back formation, with Swinkels playing alongside James Wilson and Connor Taylor at the heart of the defence.
The switch in systems had an immediate effect, with clean sheets against Shrewsbury Town and Huddersfield giving the Pirates and platform to build from.
Reflecting on the change in formation, Swinkels admitted the alteration has helped the side and is hoping for another clean sheet on the weekend.
“I think it’s made us a lot more solid,” he confessed. “The two goals we conceded last night were both set pieces, and apart from that, I don’t think we gave away too much. Two clean sheets before that game as well, so I think it shows that we have been more solid at the back and for me, to be on that left-hand side is nice. I can join in a little bit going forward sometimes. So, hopefully, we can keep going and try and get another clean sheet on Saturday.”
Rovers travel to Lincoln looking to rectify their difficult away form, with the Gas failing to win any of their last six on their travels in all competitions. They go to a Lincoln side that is trapped in the middle of the table, 13 points away from the drop zone but 14 points outside of the playoffs. The Imps lost away to Birmingham in their last outing but will be searching for back-to-back victories at LNER Stadium for the first time since October after thumping Crawley Town 4-1 in their last home fixture.
Swinkels believes Rovers will be facing a ‘strong’ team and said it is up to the players to turn their away results around.
“I think they are a strong team,” he stated. “They are up there as well. They’re not as good as Bolton and Huddersfield, but they are certainly a good side, and it’s just another game we’ve got to be ready for. Hopefully, we can improve our away record a little bit as well.
“The games at home help with The Mem behind us, but I think the away games we have got to improve on. I think we’ve got to be better. I’m not sure why that is, but I think it's up to us to show on Saturday that we can do it away from home as well as at home.”
Swinkels made a senior appearance for Villa in the Carabao Cup this campaign and appeared several times in their squad for the Champions League and Premier League, but his loan to the Gas is his first taste of senior football consistently. Switching cities, he is enjoying life off and on the pitch.
“I’ve really been enjoying Bristol,” he said. “I have been enjoying the city. We’ve had a couple of nice days and sunny weather over the weekend. I've been exploring the sights a little bit and been asking the boys where to go on my days off. I’ve slowly been settling in.
“Every game is different. I think we’ve got to prepare for every game well, and obviously, with the schedule, you would rather play games than you do training. Once you get in that rhythm, you want the games to keep on coming, and I’ve been really enjoying it.
“Some teams play very direct like we had against Rotherham, then in our last two games, they tried to play football. So, every game is so different, and you’ve just got to be ready for everything. I think, at the moment; we are doing that very well, and we’ll just try and keep building on it.”
