Academy midfielder Kian Sagoo believes there were positives to take from City's narrow defeat to Mansfield Town at the Gen2 Energy Elite Performance Centre last Saturday.
Sagoo was pleased with how the team performed overall, but was left ruing missed chances from the Imps, as a set-piece goal proved to be the difference in a tight contest.
He said: “In the first half, I think we were good playing the forward pass but unfortunately the final pass didn't come off for us.
“The lads tidied that up and we were better in the final third in the second half, we cleaned that up but we were just not clinical enough today.”
This was Sagoo’s second start of the week as on Wednesday he scored a hat-trick in City’s PDL shield Round of 16 clash against Stevenage rescuing the Imps from 2-0 down before scoring his penalty in a 6-5 shootout win.
Sagoo was delighted to help his side progress in the competition and wants to continue winning and developing.
He added: “Getting a hat-trick means a lot to me especially to help the team get the win, that’s the most important thing but also getting through to the next round is so important.
"We said at the start of the season that the most important things were to win and develop so I’m glad we were able to keep fighting and get that win.
“We are looking very strong in that competition, we finished second in our group which means we’re playing in the shield which I believe is a good competition that we could definitely win and we’ve shown that we are able to compete very well in the shield so far.”
Next Wednesday Sagoo will be hoping to get another opportunity against Lincoln United in the Lincolnshire County Cup quarter final as he sees it as a great chance to learn from playing against a senior opposition.
He said: “I’m looking forward to the game I think it’s a big thing for us to know it's going to be a physical challenge but hopefully we can be technically better than them.
“It’s all about beating them to the first and second ball as well as matching them aggressively but being in the quarter final is good as it's another chance to win a trophy.”