The young Imps’ first assignment of 2026 is now a home fixture against Burton Albion Saturday 16 January (11am KO) following last weekend’s postponement of their away tie against Bradford City.
City’s last fixture came nearly a month ago when taking all three points from Notts County courtesy of an incredible strike from young midfielder Donald Inyama. Tillen will have to rely on the younger members of his squad with no second-year scholars available.
Tillen said: "We will have a young group for this fixture it will allow us to cast an eye forward to next season.
"It will allow us to see how well we can cope both physically as well as technically which is important in this league."
This isn’t the first time the teams have met this campaign with the pair playing out a 1-1 draw in the final group stage match of the U17 PDL Cup, Tillen shared his optimism of taking all three points on this occasion.
He said: "We had a very enjoyable fixture in the U17 PDL Cup before Christmas and we hope tomorrow will be similar.
"If we can grab three points rather than one on this occasion, we will be more than pleased."
Tillen also acknowledged that turning one point into three will not be easy against this Burton side.
He added: "We are looking forward to the game; we know that Burton are a good side that look to play nice football with some solid movement through the team.
"We are expecting a tactically strong opponent who will provide a very stern test for us."