Sam Tillen was delighted with his squad’s spirited defensive performance against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday despite a 2-0 defeat.
Wanderers opened the scoring in a first half that lacked any serious chances for either side, and a strong showing from the Imps in the second half was not enough for Tillen's side to get anything from the game with the home side adding a second late on.
Tillen said: “We had a discussion about a few things at half time, and I thought the lads took it on board very well, we retained possession much better and as a result got into some better positions giving us some chances to equalise that we unfortunately couldn’t capitalise on.
“Will Cowin had a really good chance that he created himself by putting sustained pressure on the Bolton backline and probably deserved a goal for his efforts.”
Wanderers had a physical advantage on the pitch, instantly making them a serious aerial threat to Tillen’s side - especially from set-pieces - but he praised his side's defence for a resilient performance.
Tillen said: “In the first half they put the pressure on us, Will defended the set plays really well for us and Jaden made some big saves when we needed them.
“I thought Leo Vout did extremely well and that comes off the back of a number of impressive performances from him, he’s been defending very well, they went very direct in the second half, and he dealt with that perfectly either aerially or in behind.”
A midweek U17 PDL Cup fixture against Crewe Alexandra awaits the young Imps. Tillenadded: “They’re back in on Monday where we will reassess this game and focus on both strengths and weaknesses.
“Tuesday will be looking forward to Crewe and analysing how they play, we know they have a reputation for producing good youth talent.”