The Imps have won five and drawn two of their last seven clashes at the LNER Stadium which will give them hope when they face a Chelsea side who will still be reeling from their loss to Manchester United at the weekend.
Palmer's fitness is a huge worry
Ahead of the clash, Maresca was asked about Cole Palmer who was taken off in the 21 first minute and revealed that his injury is being monitored.
“Cole is probably the only one that we need to assess a little bit. The rest are okay, just recovering from last week.
“He did already a huge effort last Saturday to try and play the game. He tried Saturday morning, he was not 100%, but he wants to be there to help teammates in that kind of game.
“It was painful (for him) so we decided to change. We await day by day to see how he is and then decide what we do.
“The medical staff didn't mention to me about surgery until today. I don't know if it will be in the next weeks, but I don't think so to be honest.”
Chelsea's defending is improving despite critics
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was quick to rip into Chelsea poor defensive efforts against United after the game and Maresca was asked about his comments.
“I think anyone can say what they decide to say. It's not a problem. I think we improve a lot last season. For instance, if you see the table in the last year, we closed the gap.
“We will try and continue to improve. This is our main focus for this season.”
Is fatigue hurting the side?
The Blues are playing in every competition at the moment, and the Italian head coach was asked if his team are suffering from fatigue.
“The game is dictated by the red card. When we were 10v10 we had almost 70% possession. I hope we don't have any more games with 10 players after three or four minutes. It is difficult.”
Maresca won't risk a loss with academy players
Finally, Maresca admitted that the game against Lincoln will not be risked by fielding an academy side as the League One side can cause problems much like League Two side Grimsby Town did for United.
“Even if these are the games that worry me most but you can slip very easily in these kinds of games. Football is full of these kinds of games, so I am worried about that.”