David Artell praised the performances of his forward players, Ben Knight and Mikael Mandron following their late inclusion in his starting line-up. The Alex boss was left without Scott Kashket and Chris Long for the visit of Lincoln City and then to compound matters, he then lost the in-form Chris Porter in the warm up meaning Knight was promoted to start just ahead of kick-off.

Knight went on to win the second decisive penalty that was confidently tucked home by Mandron, who had only minutes before had dispatched the crucial spot-kick to put us ahead. Mandron’s brace gave us a deserved 2-0 win against the Imps and as was the threat of the two forwards throughout the night, the scoreline could and should have been even more comfortable than it was.

Artell was pleased with the way the two of them linked up as a pairing.

He told us: “We had two and half of those fit on Monday because Scott wanted to give it a go, but we felt he would benefit by having a few more days in readiness for Saturday.

“We then lost both Chris’. Ports had a knock but wante to see how it went. He went out for the warm up and was honest enough to say it wasn’t okay, so we had to change it again late on.

“The front two came in and they were a real threat. They both got chances. Mika had one pushed away by the goalkeeper and Ben Knight had a couple of good chances, he went one-one-one with the keeper.

He added: “That is what we want from them and they all know they have to step in and be ready because if this season has shown, anything can happen.”