Lincoln City boss Mark Kennedy praised his side's belief and excellence without the ball after they claimed a 1-0 upset win at Ipswich Town yesterday.

Kennedy's Imps emerged from Suffolk with all three points, courtesy of Ben House's scrappy first half goal from a corner, handing Town their first home defeat of the season.

Ex-Town player and coach Kennedy said: "Today we showed real belief in each other. We have a very good group of people, and an incredible group of players, but I don’t think they believe that sometimes, maybe that’s what you get when you have a younger squad.

“I’m really pleased for the guys because defensively at set pieces, we’ve been excellent this year – one of the top teams in the league, but offensively we’re one of the worst. We talk a lot about that we can’t be top in one area of the pitch.

"I was genuinely pleased for the guys when they scored from a set piece because we have tightened up defensively but it’s a constant reminder about what we’ve got to do and what we need to better at.”

Kennedy also reserved praise for man of the match defender Adam Jackson, who led a determined and resilient defensive effort.

"He was outstanding," Kennedy said. "Everybody to a man was awesome, it was an excellent out of possession performance for sure.”

Jackson added: “From top to bottom, everyone on the pitch was unbelievable. It was a great shift, especially in that second half when there was a bit of an onslaught. We did not give up and I think we deserved it in the end.

“Ipswich were getting a lot of shots away from the edge of the box but we had a lot of men around the ball and we made it difficult for them to score. We defended really well and the lads from the front did really well too.”