It's an exciting time to be a Lincoln fan, the 'Lincoln Loco' as they call it in Lincolnshire shows no signs of stopping, with a Wembley final and silverware the latest chapter in an astonishing story of rising form the ashes.

Just two years ago Lincoln finished in the bottom half of the National League, eliminated from the FA Cup in the first round and apparently firmly ensconced in the fifth tier. Then, two men by the name of Cowley entered their lives.

An FA Trophy semi-final, FA Cup quarter final and National League title followed, earning the Imps promotion to the Football League.

If you thought they were done, you'd be wrong, this season they've surged up the division and are currently sixth with games in hand on the teams around them.

This weekend they went to Wembley for the first time in their history, beating League One high-fliers Shrewsbury in the Checkatrade Trophy final.

Many of the team are on two-year deals, but with interest in manager Danny Cowley reaching a crescendo, there could be massive changes at the club in the summer.

Aside from the manager debate, here are three players whose departures would damage the club significantly.

Whitehouse has been the surprise package of the season. He's a former Sheffield United youth team player who once starred alongside Harry Maguire in the FA Youth cup.

Since City have reverted to a 4-3-3 he's thrived, scoring the winning goal at Wembley to carve his name into Imps folklore. He's out of contract in the summer though and as yet, no new deal has been announced.

Eardley will almost certainly get the Player of the Year at Sincil Bank, he's been outstanding on the right side of defence after three injury-hit years had seen him drop from Birmingham City to failed trials across League Two.

He joined on a short term deal as cover but has made himself indispensable for City, however his current contract runs out in the summer and there's likely to be lots of potential suitors from League One or even higher.

Woodyard has been the subject of bids from both Luton Town and Scunthorpe recently and although he pledged his future to Lincoln, he must surely be one who could move in the summer.

He's an industrious and energetic midfielder who has followed Danny and Nicky from Concord Rangers to Lincoln via Braintree. If they were to move it is likely they'd want to take their favourite player with them, if they don't he might still be wanting a move back down south.