Lincoln City have endured an eventful start to the season, in their first year back in League One following promotion, with the Imps picking up 16 points from 13 games and currently sitting in 12th place in the table.

Initially they started the campaign in blistering form, carrying on their momentum from the previous seasons, before Danny Cowley left the club to take over at Championship side Huddersfield Town at the start of September.

The loss of Cowley was a huge one, with Lincoln progressing from season to season under his guidance and climbing from the National League all the way towards the top of the League One table, and his replacement Michael Appleton will face a difficult challenge of trying to repeat that same level of success.

Appleton has so far picked up a win at home to Sunderland, in between defeats at Blackpool and Peterborough United, and he will now be hoping to find some consistency in the coming weeks as he looks to stamp his authority on the side.

There are things that Appleton will need to address and others that he can look to build on to get his reign up and running at the club in the next few weeks and months.

Here, we take a look at TWO of the things we have noticed about Lincoln so far this season that Appleton should be thinking about as the season progresses...

Midfield looking full of depth

In Lincoln's 2-0 defeat at Peterborough on Saturday, Appleton elected to hand a start to Ellis Chapman, who had been struggling for first team minutes under Cowley at the start of the season, and the 18-year-old was perferred to Everton loanee Callum Connolly, in the absence of Joe Morrell who was on international duty with Wales.

Morrell's return will offer even further selection headaches to Appleton in terms of choosing the best midfield to start with in the coming weeks, with Lincoln also having the likes of Michael O'Connor and Jake Hesketh who can also do a job in the centre of midfield.

That suggests that the Imps have a real enviable depth in quality in midfield, and although that is a positive in terms of their being lots of competition for places, meaning the player selected to start know they need to produce their best form to stay in the team, it creates the issue for Appleton of finding the best midfield balance available in his squad.

The importance of keeping Tyler Walker

Tyler Walker arrived at Lincoln in the summer on loan from Championship side Nottingham Forest, having impressed in League Two at Mansfield last term scoring 22 goals in 46 games last year, and the striker has proven himself a very capable performer at a higher level, hitting seven goals already for the Imps.

That has seen him emerge as an integral part of Lincoln's attack, with the 22-year-old able to both link up well with his teammates in the final third, as well as providing the all important finishing touch when presented with chances in front of goal, which will be something the Imps will need if they are to kick on under Appleton.

However, given Walker's form there is the potential that Nottingham Forest could decide to recall him in January, with the Reds only really having Lewis Grabban to rely on up front so far this term, and if the 22-year-old were to leave it could have a real negative impact on Lincoln's season.