Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley was quick to hail the battling qualities of his Imps players as they battled to a late win against Colchester United.

Having seen the game poised at 1-1 as the clock ticked past the 90 minutes and with his team reduced to ten men after the sending off of Michael Bostwick on 84 minutes, Cowley was proud of the resilience of his players in a dramatic finale.

With their place in the League Two play-offs possibly on the line, they kept fighting and got their reward on 92 minutes when Luke Waterfall headed the ball in with almost the final action of the game.

It was a stunning finale and left Cowley reflecting warmly on the qualities of his players.

He said: “We are physically really fit, mentally very tough and have so much resilience, determination and grit.

“In all my teams, I try to surround myself with those sort of qualities because I know that football is not always black and white.

“Sometimes you need more than just tactical and technical ability to win games.

“It is people who win football matches not players.

“We can play a hell of a lot better than that tactically and technically but when you with that much will, determination and resilience to the end like we did then you give yourself a chance.”