Chris Cohen believes City showed they are capable of competing at Sky Bet Championship level after producing a performance which left the head coach immensely proud at Middlesbrough.
The Imps impressed for long periods against one of the division’s strongest sides, with Adam Reach putting City ahead before the hosts struck twice late on to turn the contest around.
Despite the manner of the defeat, Cohen believes the display provided further evidence that his players belong at this level.
“We’re incredibly proud of the players and incredibly proud of the performance they put in,” he said.
“The past two weeks should give our players, us as a staff and our supporters absolute faith that we’re meant to be here. We’re going to have loads of good days if we continue to perform like that.
“We showed for long periods that these players aren’t just capable of playing at this level, they’re capable of thriving at this level.”
City were particularly impressive during the opening 45 minutes, combining an aggressive approach without the ball with a constant threat when in possession.
Cohen described the first-half display as a blueprint for how he and Tom Shaw want their side to approach games in the Championship.
“The first half is probably a blueprint that we’ll hopefully take up and down the country in terms of how we want to play and what we want to look like, with and without the ball," he said."
“I thought we were pretty sensational against a brilliant football team who are really well coached.
“Middlesbrough away will be as tough an away game as we have all season. The players amaze me because nothing fazes them. They went there with big shoulders, showed their quality with the ball and showed their application, effort and energy without it.
“There’ll be very few football teams that come to Middlesbrough this year and are able to negate them that much in a half of football while still carrying a big threat.”
City’s performance was rewarded when two of the squad’s experienced players combined, with Tendayi Darikwa providing for Reach to finish against his former club.
“The senior players we’ve got just show the younger players how to conduct themselves every day," added Cohen
“Tendayi gets the cross in and Reachy gets the goal. It’s no surprise from Reachy because he shows that quality all the time, and Tendayi shows that energy and quality all the time. I thought it was a proper Lincoln City goal.
“In the second half it’s human nature to drop a little bit deeper and try to survive. The question for us as a staff, and for me and Tom as a pair of head coaches, is how do we keep the aggression in the game? How do we punch back?
“Even if we’d won the game 2-1, we’d still have to learn the same lesson. Eventually, if you keep dropping off, this division will hurt you.
“When we play like we did in that first half, we’re pretty unpleasant to play against. Our job as a staff is to help the players keep that aggression throughout the match.”
Cohen also paid tribute to the 2,200 travelling Imps who backed his side on an historic afternoon for the club.
"They were amazing. Our remit, for me and Tom and for the players, is that at the end of every game we want to create a performance the fans are proud of. We want them to see our effort, our application and our quality, and I thought we were able to do that," he added.
“We’re incredibly proud to be leading a club that gets supported like that away at Middlesbrough. I know they’ve waited a long time for this day and we really appreciate their support. We can’t wait for a home game and to see them next week.”