Sam Tillen praised his team's impressive performance after their away win in the Youth Alliance Cup on Tuesday evening.
The young Imps travelled to Clifton to face Notts County and came away with a crucial three points under the lights thanks to a double from Zane Okoro and a Dan Vanderpuye strike.
Tillen said: “The character was fantastic, we continued to create chances after going 1-0 down and got a penalty just before half-time that was converted by Zane Okoro.
“We wanted to come out, start on a positive note in the second half and try to gain the ascendancy early on and we felt if we carried on with the quality we showed in the first half then we’d win the game and that’s what transpired.”
City U18 have now scored seven goals in two games following Tuesday night’s result and Saturday’s 4-1 win away at Port Vale. Dan Vanderpuye has netted twice in two games, and Tillen praised his striker’s performance. Zane Okoro has been in fine form recently with three goals in two games, and Tillen is hoping he can keep progressing.
Tillen said: “It shows the attacking threat we’ve got. Dan has been doing a lot of work in positioning and where to be so it was great for him to get another goal. It looks like a simple one but he had to be in there to convert it.
“Zane has been doing really well and it’s now his job to be consistent but when he performs like this he’s a real handful and he caused them a multitude of problems. He was a threat in every area, so hopefully we can gain the benefits of that and he can keep improving.”
Tuesday night’s result boosts the young Imps’ chance of progressing through the Youth Alliance Cup group stage, moving them up to third in the group.
Tillen added: “The lads feel like we should really have six points but we have one, but coming away with three points helps our chances of progressing but it’s down to us to make sure we get six points and put ourselves in and amongst it.”