Town boss Paul Lambert felt the Blues deserved their last-gasp 1-0 FA Cup replay at Lincoln believing they had been the better side in the second half with the Imps having been on top in the first. Lambert also dismissed criticism of his rotation policy and not fielding what is perceived his strongest side in cup ties.
Alan Judge’s injury-time goal, his first for the club, saw Town to their first FA Cup victory since January 2010.
"First half I thought Lincoln were better, second half I thought we were better. Brilliant, kids playing, team was great in the second half, really happy,” Lambert said.
The Blues boss dismissed the suggestion he was expecting extra-time when Judge netted his goal.
"No, best substitution I made in my life, Tommy Hughes!” he joked. "Great. I thought in the second half we were the better team.”
"What changed after half-time? "There are things you say to the guys, the pleasing thing is that Brett McGavin played, Idris [El Mizouni] came on again, Tommy Hughes came on, lads coming back from injury, lads coming back from their national teams.
"Doz [Andre Dozzell] didn’t get back until two in the morning and played brilliantly in the second half when he dropped deeper. So there were so many things there.
"Another game for Will [Keane], 90 minutes, Toto [Nsiala] as well. I thought the back two lads were excellent, the back two lads were excellent.
"I thought they deserved the clean sheet. As a team I thought we deserved to go through in the second half. Lincoln had one or two moments.
"I changed the whole team. As I’ve said before, I don’t have a ‘strongest team’. I don’t have a ‘strongest XI’.
"I have belief in everybody to perform, I talk with the medical team who are experts on fitness and muscle injuries and I pick a team that I think lads can get around the pitch.
"And that’s what we’ve done. I’ve said before, football’s changed. It’s not just 18 guys, it’s everybody. All this crap that people have turned around and said about ‘a strongest team’, a lot of shite, that’s what it is, shite.”
Regarding McGavin, who was handed his second senior start having made his debut at Colchester last week, he said: "It’s just a knock, I thought he was excellent in the second half. I thought he was getting better and better as the game wore on.
"We pushed Emyr and Dozzell a little bit forward in the second half and Brett as the sitter was very good. Against Colchester I thought he was excellent and tonight I thought he was getting going in the second half.”
He added: "It shows me that there are good kids here. They need a bit of time to progress. If I don’t believe in them and I don’t try them I’ll never know.
"Players like Brett and Tommy Hughes and Idris and Dobra and all the kids that have come through, it might just save the club a few million pound.”
Regarding Judge’s goal, ending a 46-game drought for club and country, Lambert said: "Long overdue, I think he knows that himself. Again, he was another one just back from international duty.
"It’s tough when you come back from your national team, it’s really, really tough. But I’m delighted for him to score a goal, so I’m happy for him.”
Lambert felt Keane was another to improve after the break: "Second half I thought he grew into it as well, I thought the whole team grew in the second half.
"In the first half I thought Lincoln were better than us without us ever looking like we were going to concede. Lincoln had more of the ball than I would have liked. In the second half I thought we dominated it.”
The Blues manager was pleased that Keane, Nsiala and Huws had got another game under their belts as they continue their progress after their spells on the sidelines.
"It’s great, we spoke the other day with the lads about how many minutes they played,” he added. "Last year this football club had some guys playing 2,000 minutes, some playing 300 minutes.
"As I said before, it’s unfair and people who don’t know the game, who don’t have a clue about keeping people fit, that’s what annoys me.
"But everybody’s game time is really getting there. I trust every one of them to perform. I don’t have any favourites, I don’t have any guys that I think are more important than others. We’re a team.
"The football club’s going to a helluva good place, the support coming all this way on a Wednesday night is fabulous.”
Looking ahead to the round two tie against Coventry at St Andrew’s a week on Sunday with a 2pm kick-off, he added: "The cup’s a good competition. We go and try and win. The league’s the most important thing. Let’s see what happens.”