Neal Ardley hopeful striker Lyle Taylor fit for AFC Wimbledon

Posted Friday, November 03, 2017 by PA

AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley is keeping his fingers crossed that striker Lyle Taylor will be fit for Saturday's FA Cup first-round clash with Sky Bet League Two side Lincoln.

Taylor limped out of Tuesday night's 2-1 Checkatrade Trophy defeat by Luton with a calf problem and he will be assessed ahead of the game.

Striker Egli Kaja, who replaced Taylor after 41 minutes, got through the remainder of the match after struggling with a hamstring problem in recent weeks.

Ardley made eight changes for the midweek fixture with defender Jon Meades (knee) and midfielder Harry Forrester (groin) getting 73 and 62 minutes respectively under their belts on their return from injury, but frontman Kwesi Appiah remains on the sidelines.

Lincoln boss Danny Cowley remains guarded about Sean Raggett's availability.

The on-loan Norwich defender would need permission from his parent club to feature at Kingsmeadow as doing so would rule him out of the rest of the Canaries' cup campaign.

Luke Waterfall and Michael Bostwick - the latter a natural midfielder - are alternatives to Raggett.

Winger Cameron Stewart, who recently joined the Imps on a short-team deal, will hope to be involved.