Lincoln United 1 Imps U18 4

Sam Tillen.

Sam Tillen was pleased to see his side record a convincing win against Lincoln United on Wednesday night.

The young Imps put in an impressive performance at Ashby Avenue, coming away 4-1 winners with goals coming from Charlie Carlisle, Dan Vanderpuye, Carter Ford and Bola Okewoye.

Tillen felt the squad embraced the challenge of playing a senior men's side, and felt they put in a good performance as preparations for the 2024/25 campaign continued.

He said: “It was a good test. It always feels like a proper game in a proper stadium here and under the lights always feels a bit special to me. The lads really embraced that, we looked very sharp in training this week and we took that into the game and produced a positive performance.

“The attacking third has been a focus over pre-season, with how we want to play. We want to be proactive in terms of our attacking and then when we do get the opportunity to get into wide areas or get in behind the defence, we can execute.”

City kick off their season with a trip to Wrexham U18, and Tillen is hoping the next two weeks will put his squad in the best condition to start the season strong.

He added: “The next two weeks will be all about building fitness - we have two games and that enables us to do even more work. We’ve got to be on the ball and be ready for Wrexham.”

Click here to sign up for the Imps Lottery and help fund City's Academy as they search for the stars of the future!