Charlotte Dinsdale could see plenty of progress from her young side after a battling performance against Solihull Moors on Sunday.
Strikes from Lexie Butterworth and Gemma Harte ensured the Imps were level at the interval, having fought back from 2-0 down, but the visitors scored four unanswered goals in the second period to claim a 6-2 victory.
Dinsdale said: “We’re disappointed with how we dealt with the third goal when we’d done so well to get back into the game for half-time.
“Mistakes have cost us the game but in terms of application, hard work and resilience these girls don’t give up. We showed some real character.”
With a new-look squad made up predominantly of young players, Dinsdale believes the players have already built some good connections despite largely being recruited during pre-season.
She added: “We’ve rebuilt a team and that's taken time, so we’re a couple of weeks behind everybody else, but what I am seeing is is the team's determination and some of the quality starting to come out - that's giving me hope and the girls hope.
“They’re digging in deep, and the off the field attitude is really helping them on the field because they are sticking together as a team. We need to keep that spirit going, because we've got a long season ahead, but absolutely got some winnable games as well.”