An impressive performance from City saw them come out with a 3-1 victory in a Youth Alliance North clash with Shrewsbury Town U18 with goals from Leo Fifield and Donald Inyama as well as an own goal from the travelling side.
Isaac Rice said “I think the resilience of the team was really good, particularly when we were level and when we were under the cosh a bit.
“I thought we defended our box very well, struggled in moments in transitions. They had some threats with pace that we struggled to deal with, but when it was in and around our box, the boys defended really well.”
The defensive solidity in recent weeks has been a key factor in the success of the young Imps’ campaign so far, with the performances certainly not going unnoticed by the coaching staff.
Rice said: “I think the togetherness in the back line has been really good. We’ve worked on things in training like being prepared to put your body on the line and working together as a unit is so important and the boys did really well today.”
City have been in hot form in attacking areas with goals not appearing to be an issue for Rice and Tillen’s side. The goals have been a major boost for the young Imps so far.
Rice said: “At the moment we’re creating chances, looking to play forward football and find the attacking players as much as we can. We have pace on the top line which is always difficult to deal with.
"I thought at times the movement from the front two was decent and we’ll look to keep building on that.”
Looking ahead to the next fixture away in Blackpool on Saturday, Rice spoke on the mindset and preparations going into another vital league clash away from home.
He added: “We’ll keep working on the stuff that we didn’t do tell well today, keep building on the stuff that was done well from the start of the season and then we’ll prepare accordingly going to Blackpool with an overnight as well.”