Head coach Michael Skubala was full of praise for his ten-man City side, who took all three points at Burton Albion following Reeco Hackett's low second-half drive.
The Imps were reduced to 10 men after 29 minutes when Alex Mitchell was shown a second yellow card after tangling with Ademola Ola-Ademobi.
Skubala's team dug deep though and were rewarded for that effort by Hackett's 54th minute winner.
The head coach said: "It's a tough place to get one point at, let alone three points. The last time we played Burton they turned us over, but I'm so proud of every single player. To play 70 minutes with 10 men and still not be passive, but to go after it the way we did was terrific.
"I'm so proud of the fans pushing us right up until the very end. Having 1,200+ travelling fans was amazing - you could hear them the whole time and right at the end when we all celebrated together was a great moment for everybody."
Discussing Mitchell's two yellow cards, which led to his dismissal, the head coach felt the centre-back was unlucky with his first booking.
He said: "All I'll say is I've never seen two players go up for a header and one get booked for it in my time in coaching.
"The second one is a yellow card, we know he shouldn't have pulled. The first just sets a precedent in the game, but the players dug in and got on with it. With cramp and injuries, we stuck it out right to the end and it was unbelievable how those lads played for the shirt.
"Each player followed the match plan in the second half to an absolute tee, which was brilliant."
Following three clean sheets in succession City will be seeking three more valuable points when Fleetwood Town visit the LNER Stadium next Saturday.
He added: "It's superb, especially considering the opposition. We need to take it into Fleetwood now, who won 3-0 against Port Vale. We need to kick on, keep pushing and if we have that same mentality we had today we'll push on."
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