Ben House believes Lincoln City’s willingness to work for each other was epitomised by the pressing which created Freddie Draper’s winner at Bristol City.
House led the charge as the Imps put the hosts under pressure before Draper capitalised to score the only goal of the game and secure a third successive 1-0 league victory on the road.
And the forward revealed that City had specifically targeted being more aggressive without the ball following a half-time message from the coaching staff.
He said: “Literally at half-time, we said we needed to get a little bit more aggressive, especially when we didn’t have the ball, to try and put their centre-backs under a little bit more pressure.
“You can see that it works. It’s something we work on for a really long time and it’s nice to see things paying off with the press.
“Obviously, we base a lot of our work around that. It’s at the heart of the team and everything we do is for each other.
“It’s not just me. We all run for each other and when we can get those big wins, it’s an amazing thing.”
House’s pressure helped create the opportunity, but he was also keen to highlight the composure shown by Draper to convert for his second decisive goal in as many matches.
He added: “It’s definitely a great finish. I’m delighted for him. From the side, you’re thinking it’s easy, but obviously in the moment on the pitch it’s so different.”
Draper’s goal ultimately proved enough thanks to another determined defensive display from the Imps, who followed their clean sheet at Preston North End with another shutout in Bristol.
House believes those performances are a reflection of a collective mentality which extends throughout the team and beyond the starting XI.
He said: “The defence was amazing. They were amazing again. But the midfield were amazing as well, and then obviously the subs coming on made a big difference.
“The group we have is amazing and we all want the same thing. We all want three points at the end of each match."
Competition for places has allowed Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw to make changes throughout the opening weeks of the campaign, with House completing back-to-back 90 minutes for the first time in a while.
Rather than being frustrated by the competition, the forward believes the strength of the group is helping to drive standards.
He said: “It’s credit to the gaffers and the squad of players we’ve got. It’s healthy competition that we have.
“I think this is the first time in a long time that I’ve played two 90 minutes back-to-back. It’s good competition, it’s healthy, and it just shows the progression of the squad.”
