Danny Cowley admits he is pleased his Lincoln City side face Barnet so soon after Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to local rivals Notts County.
The Imps go into tonight’s match at Sincil Bank off the back of two straight defeats and are now 12th in League Two, four points outside the play-off places.
“You’re always disappointed when you get beat, particularly to your local rivals and particularly when you’ve taken four and a half thousand supporters,” Cowley said.
“We’ve all had a really good conversation as a group – it was really positive. We looked at the game back and looked at what we could have done differently because we as a group shouldn’t get beat 4-1. Not with ten men, not with nine men, not with eight men.
“We’ve got too much character and too much substance for that to happen.”
Lincoln face a Barnet side whose form has also dipped in recent weeks. The Bees are without a win in their last three matches.
“Tuesday night gives us a great opportunity to put the disappointment of Saturday behind us,” insisted Cowley.
“We’re a newly promoted team into a very tough division. It was never going to be smooth sailing.
“Barnet is a really important game because it is our tenth game of the season. A positive result will, in my opinion, give us a really positive start to the season.”
The Imps will be without midfielder Billy Knott for tonight’s match.
The Football Association upheld his three match suspension after Lincoln appealed against the red card he received in Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to Notts County.
Speaking prior to the FA’s decision Cowley said: “It was a harsh punishment to take on Saturday and it cost us three points in our opinion because we thought we were in a strong position in the game.
“For us to have a double whammy and lose Billy for three games would be terrible.
“The FA have to be really careful because they set a real precedent otherwise,” he added.
“If we’re saying the players can’t go for the ball with their foot when the ball is at waist height then what are we asking the players to do? What could Billy have done differently in that moment?”
However, Barnet’s Simeon Akinola could be involved tonight.
The forward almost joined Lincoln on transfer deadline day last month but the Football League decided that the move had not been completed satisfactorily and was blocked.
“I’m really pleased for Simeon that he scored on Saturday and that he’s back involved with the Barnet team because I know he’s been on the outside since what happened on transfer deadline day,” said Cowley.
“He’s a great kid and he’s got a great attitude and no doubt he’s shown that on the training pitch.”
For live updates of tonight’s match follow us on Twitter @LincSport