Freddie Draper hailed City’s travelling support after creating another special Deepdale memory with the winning goal at Preston North End.
The Academy graduate struck the only goal of the game to secure a 1-0 victory for the Imps, before celebrating with the 1,700 travelling supporters at the final whistle.
Deepdale already held fond memories for Draper, who scored the winner when City recorded a 1-0 FA Youth Cup victory at Preston as a 16-year-old.
This time his goal came on the Championship stage - and was his first at this level.
Draper said: “The fans were unbelievable. They’re always there with us and they were singing over the Preston fans. It was brilliant to see and it was a special moment at the end.
“They’ve made that long journey and obviously Bournemouth wasn’t so good, so to repay them a little bit with a performance and result like that is massive.
“I think that’s two in two for me here now! It just shows the memories I’ve had at this club.
“I’m continuing to make more memories and to score my first Championship goal here is massive. I had a feeling I was going to score and I’m glad I did.”
Draper revealed his confidence that a goal was coming stretched back to before the team even arrived in Lancashire.
He added: “I had a feeling the day before. I felt I’ve been doing well and I wanted to go and score some goals.
“I’ve had a few chances and wanted to make an impact. I thought that if I got on that pitch I'd score.
“It’s massive to get that first goal, especially in the Championship. I’ve wanted it probably since the start of the season, so I’m just happy I’ve got it now and hopefully I can get a few more.
“I love scoring goals. I want to score many more and I feel like I’ve still got a lot in me to improve my goalscoring, so hopefully that’s the first of many.”
The goal carried additional significance for the Academy graduate given his long association with the Imps.
He said: “It is a dream come true, especially doing it for this club. The amount of faith they’ve shown in me is massive.
“I’ve had little blips along the way, but they’ve always stood by me. Everyone knows how much this club means to me, so it’s great to get that first goal in the Championship. I feel good and I feel like this is just the start.”
The victory stretched City's unbeaten run at the second tier to four games, with Draper believing his team-mates' resilience continues to serve them well at Championship level.
He added: “We know what we’re about. We’re hard to beat, but we’ve also shown we’re a very good team and we’re not going to roll over and accept defeat.
“We’re a really close-knit group and we fight for each other.
“I think we showed a bit of quality as well. That’s what a lot of teams underestimate about us. We’re a good team, we know what we can bring to games and we showed that really well.”
