Chris Cohen wants the Imps to turn the ProAmpac Stadium into a fortress as his side prepare to welcome West Ham United on Wednesday evening.
The City head coach is relishing the opportunity to face the recently relegated Hammers and believes the backing of the home supporters can help his players rise to the challenge.
Cohen is determined to build on the encouraging performances his side have produced at home this season and turn those displays into victories, starting against one of the Championship’s biggest clubs.
He said: “The fans are incredibly important, as always. We’re going to need them on Wednesday night, but it’s our job as staff and as a group of players to give them something to shout about.
“We need to threaten the opposition, we need to create some chaos in their penalty area and we want to win games at home.
“Our players, when they’re at their levels, are capable of beating anyone in this league and, for me, that includes West Ham. It’s just up to us to help them do that."
Cohen believes Wednesday’s fixture is one supporters will have been looking forward to since the Championship schedule was released, with the visit of the former Premier League side providing another exciting test.
He added: “I’m sure when the fixtures came out, we were hoping that was going to be the first game of the season. It’s one you look for.
“They’re a monster football club that’s just come down from the Premier League and won a European trophy a few years ago.
“We know this group of players are able to bounce back, compete and thrive at this level. We’ve shown it already and it’s about showing that at home.
“We have to make it a fortress. Performance-wise, I think we’ve done that so far, bar the Portsmouth game. It’s now about taking points off teams and taking three points off teams.
“We’ll do everything we can for that to happen on Wednesday night.”
City head into the game looking to respond to Saturday’s defeat at Sheffield United, with Cohen taking encouragement from elements of his side’s performance at Bramall Lane.
He said: “We weren’t a million miles off our levels, especially in the first 35 minutes. We weren’t far off what we wanted to do at the start of the match, but a couple of sucker punches took the game away from us.
“We’re going to have some tough games and some tough days. We understand that, but we don’t want them and we’re never going to settle for them.
“What’s really important is that we don’t get disappointed. We have to fly into the next game.”
Cohen also praised the travelling supporters who backed City in Sheffield and is hoping for another memorable atmosphere under the lights on Wednesday.
He added: “We had 2,850 fans again today and they deserve a massive mention. It’s easy to mention them when you win games of football.
“We weren’t able to give them another away-day memory like the last couple of games we’ve had away from home, but they’re amazing.
“We want that air raid siren going. We want to create some chaos in West Ham’s penalty area and see if they’re able to live with us at our best levels.”
