Ethan Hamilton thinks about a different season in the professional competition and his second year in Lincoln City.
The former man United Youngster, now 26, came to the club in 2023 and collected 74 performances for the Imps.
Playing at the Lner Stadium is an enlightening experience for every football player who gives Lincoln, is a side that does things differently.
They not only have a director of innovation and growth, but they have also put forward in AI to analyze set pieces and improve the player performance, while investigating ways to encourage fans to reduce their CO2 footprint while traveling to competitions.
Lincoln has also been a springboard for talent, with people like Morgan Rogers, Brennan Johnson and Harry Toffolo among the stars that have continued in recent years.
They are a modern club in every essence. And, after they have paraaged themselves in national consciousness via a memorable run to the FA Cup quarterfinals in 2016-17 when they were in the National League, 2024-25 is their six consecutive campaign in League One.
After missing the play-offs on the last day last season, there was hope that this time that extra step was. Yet the challenge to compete in a division is strewn with heavy American investments and a whole series of former Premier League parties is not easy, with sources that indicate that Lincoln's budget belongs to one of the bottom quarter in League One.
And, despite signs of progress among the highly appreciated Michael Skubala, formerly head coach of the English Herenfutsal team before working with England under 18 and Leeds United, that consistency to penetrate the top six was elusive.
A record of 16 wins and 15 defeats proves that and Easter victories at Reading and Bolton for the first time since January marked that Lincoln has achieved back-to-back victories.
Similar explanation triumphs during the campaign against the will of Stockport and Leyton Orient – two teams that insist on promotion – show that the quality is there, but with two games to go, Lincoln is 11th, 11 points on the drift of the top six.
“It has been an OK campaign for the club,” Hamilton tells Mail Sport. 'We always have ambitions to insist on the play-offs, but we are in a little bit of a middle ground.
“It is now about strong ending the season and bringing Momentum in the summer and next season.”
The first impact of Hamilton on the campaign was delayed by a knee injury collected in February 2024, but he returned in October.
Although he may not have started as many games as he had wanted, the cultivated midfielder left with feet has characterized 37 times in all competitions.
So what does he think that Lincoln is needed to take that extra step to push in the top six?
“You sometimes need good luck in football,” he adds. 'There are some games that we feel that we could probably have done better. And the manager is always looking for more in the front and dominate the game for longer periods.
“That's what we try to do until the end of the season, and give the fans something to be enthusiastic about next year.”
Hamilton, 26, is a friendly company, with sources near the club that give a similar image of the midfielder, who comes from Scotland.
He has a fascinating background, since he started his career at Hutchison Vale, the same Edinburgh club where United Legend Darren Fletcher started, where the shot later took care of him.
Hamilton was signed by the Red Devils of 16 years in 2015 and impressed the Academy before getting a professional contract for the 2018-19 season.
That year he went on the club's tour by the US and was often called up for first team training alongside Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford, who was the year above at youth level.
“It was brilliant,” says Hamilton when thinking about his five -year spell at United. 'The opportunities you get there, you probably won't get anywhere else, so I was very lucky.
'You see parts of the world that my family could not see grow up and you are well cared for. I stay in contact with a few people and it gives you a great grounding to continue and have a career. '
Hamilton was in the same cohort as Angel Gomes, the English international who left United and is now shining for Lille, while Kieran McKenna was under 18 coach.
Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were first team managers during his enchantment and it was the Portuguese who handed Hamilton some involvement of the first team.
That came in a FA Cup -Stropdas in Huddersfield in February 2018, with Hamilton – who was subsequently praised by Mourinho – to replace Paul Pogba on the couch after the French superstar had reported badly.
“It was a great experience that day,” he adds. 'It was good to be so close to see what they are doing on a competition day and how they are in the dressing room and you learn from that.
'It was the same when I went upstairs to train and saw what they do every day. It looks good and you take pieces of when you play and prepare for games. '
However, there is one name that stands out above all his former colleagues and coaches when Hamilton is asked for the most influential figure in his time at United.
“Warren Joyce,” says Hamilton about the valued former United Youth Coach. 'He gives you an earth to have a career because he drills crucial things in you. That you have to run, you have to tackle, you have to work hard. That is sometimes the most important thing in football.
'If you are willing to do that, you give yourself half a chance. Kieran McKenna was also brilliant and it is no surprise how well he has been done since. '
Hamilton, who kept Leen Proverbs in Rochdale, Southend and Bolton, while in 2020 he moved to Peterborough permanently and was promoted to the championship with Posh. The 26-year-old then enjoyed a period of two years in Accrington Stanley before joining Lincoln.
And it is a place where he enjoys setting himself up while he goes into the peak years of his career.
“I really enjoyed being here,” he says. 'The club is really well managed and the boys are great. We are very proud of small details and we feel that we have a very good team. It's just about maximizing everything we can do. '
For now they are two games against Stockport and Wrexham to come, competitions that can have a big impact on the League One Promotion Race, for a well-deserved summer vacation and hopefully a top six tilt with Lincoln in 2025-26.
“It is sometimes a tough competition,” says Hamilton. 'Every game is difficult, but we just have to build on last season and this season, and go into it next year and have a really good attempt.
“Hopefully we can really start and break into the play – offs – that's what we will try to do.”
Good Easter, bad Easter
The football party in the Easter weekend is always one of the best parts of an EFL season.
The proximity to the end of the campaign means that the two luminaires can prove to be for the urge for promotion or struggle of different teams to prevent relegation.
So, after a dramatic few days, we have chosen a number of parties who will put a smile in their Easter eggs this week and others who will ruin themselves in a chaotic few days.
Good
Leeds and Burnley
Although the last step was always considered the most difficult, both Leeds and Burnley were perfect during Easter to secure their return to the top flight.
The side of Daniel Farke did not show any signs of nerves when they expressed Oxford 1-0 before they bang Stoke 6-0 after five goals in 41 first half minutes.
The path of Burnley was less serene, but after the end of Nine-Man Watford, they showed up for the occasion when he sentenced Sheffield United to the play-offs on Monday.
Four defeats in the past five games of the Blades have been catastrophic, but Leeds and Burnley don't care if the race for the championship title goes to the thread.
Doncaster
The promotion struggle between League Two has been bent in the last few weeks, with teams that apparently slide up as soon as they get a foot on the ground.
None of Walsall, Bradford of Port Vale-Die in the top three were a victory on the Easter weekend, and with the door Doncaster let it go through and more with back-to-back 3-0 victories against Tranmere and Colchester.
The side of Grant McCann went from the fourth to the first time and now only needs three points from two games to return to League One after three years.
Bad
West Brom
The West Brom season is steeped in inconsistency, in which the baggies were drawn 18 times, but in the Easter weekend in their play-off hope were still alive.
A harmful defeat in Coventry City after one of their worst versions of the season, however, everything except their dreams ended before a 3-1 inverted at home to make Derby a gloomy weekend.
Tony Mowbray paid the prize because after just three months he was discharged out of his role, with the West Brom campaign blowing up in six games in smoke in recent weeks in recent weeks.
Trunk
Depending on Oxford on Easter Monday, a 1-1 draw was not a bad result for Cardiff.
But since Plymouth, Luton, Derby and Hull All won won, the Bluebirds, which dismissed Omer Riza after Friday's defeat by Sheffield United, are a serious danger to fall to the League One.
Their target difference is considerably worse than their rivals and caretaker Aaron Ramsey will have to evoke one of the most memorable moments of his shimmering career if they want to stay.
Fantasy EFL is taking a new turn
Within the EFL, it can exclusively reveal that the success of the inaugural season of EFL-Fantasie will see the game return for a special play-off addiction, so that more than 120,000 users can dig deeper into the most exciting part of the campaign.
In a first of his kind of play-off Fantasy Football game, the first legs, second legs and finals will consist of 15 games in three game week, with 12 teams in action when they fight for promotion.
There is a whole series of prizes available for those who are successful, including club merchandise and hospitality tickets for competitions in 2025-26 – and you can register today to play on Fantasy.efl.com.