Paul Warne wants his Derby team to be “braver” despite closing in on the top two with a 3-1 win over Lincoln.

Derby’s head coach brought on Kane Wilson for the second half and he scored and set up the third goal which sealed a sixth win in seven games.

Conor Hourihane gave Derby a 26th-minute lead with a drive from just inside the area after Lincoln failed to clear a Joe Ward cross.

But Ward gave away a penalty in stoppage time when he tripped Paudie O’Connor and Danny Mandroiu confidently put away the spot kick.

Wilson replaced Ward and he restored Derby’s lead in the 65th minute with a looping header from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s cross.

Wilson then delivered a precise pass in the 77th minute that sent James Collins through to score with a low shot inside Lukas Jensen’s far post.

Derby are now one point behind second placed Peterborough but Warne said: “We didn’t do enough with the ball first half, we didn’t play with enough personality, we weren’t brave  enough.

“I would like us to play with a bit more personality. I just feel we have another gear and I just think we have to keep trying to get better.

“I was disappointed with how we started the game and I appreciate the opposition make it difficult but it still didn’t feel like we had the purpose I think we need to have in our play to go up as champions potentially.

“I want to get in the top two, I want the lads to want to get in the top two and they give me everything at times but tonight I didn’t think we were brave enough. You have to be positive with your decisions and I thought we were just a bit too safe.”

Lincoln head coach Michael Skubala said: “Disappointed by the outcome. We did well to get in at half-time at one all and I thought we started the second half brightly.

“But you can’t come away to places like this and concede on a set-piece. You work so hard, then concede on a set piece and then it’s always going to be a difficult place to try and push.

“I felt like at times we had moments where we could have been better with the final pass and in transition when we won it back we needed to be a bit tidier. We carried a little bit of a threat tonight but we still need to do better.

“It’s a tough place to come, they have experienced players and we’ve got to grow up in moments as a team but disappointed at the outcome.”

Kane Wilson came off the bench to inspire Derby to a 3-1 win over Lincoln that lifts them to third in Sky Bet League One.

Lincoln started brightly but the first chance fell to the Rams in the 16th minute when Tom Barkhuizen crossed and Max Bird’s shot deflected behind off a defender.

But there was no stopping Conor Hourihane’s drive from just inside the area in the 26th minute which flew into the top-left corner after Lincoln failed to clear a Joe Ward cross.

Derby almost scored again five minutes before half-time through Craig Forsyth who fired inches past the right-hand post but Ward gave away a penalty in stoppage time when he tripped Paudie O’Connor and Danny Mandroiu converted.

Ward was subbed for Wilson at half-time and he restored Derby’s lead in the 65th minute with a looping header from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s cross.

Wilson then turned provider in the 77th minute with a precise pass that sent James Collins through to score with a low cross-shot.

Reading assistant James Oliver-Pearce revealed boss Ruben Selles apologised after being sent off during the 1-1 draw at Lincoln.

Nelson Abbey scored an own goal for the visitors after just three minutes before Harvey Knibbs secured the Royals a much-needed point in their fight for survival at Sincil Bank.

Reading had the ball in the net on two occasions before half-time, both through Paul Mukairu, but referee Bobby Madley whistled for a foul on the defender for the first before he was denied a second time by the offside flag.

And Selles was sent off when he kicked the ball away to stop the Imps taking a quick throw-in.

Due to English Football League rules, managers who are sent off are not allowed to talk to the media.

Oliver-Pearce, who took the club’s post-match media duties, said: “It was an impulsive reaction. They had a player running to take a quick throw and he tried to delay the restart.

“He was just trying to help the team. He apologised to the dressing room, it’s the first thing he did when he walked in.

“He doesn’t want to let the team down and wants to be out there to support them and the staff.

“I wasn’t aware of it as a rule personally. Apparently if the manager does it it’s a red, but if it’s one of us it isn’t.

“I’m not sure why it’s one rule for us and one rule for others. That’s the laws of the game. It’s a game we’re frustrated by because we had chances to win the game.”

Lincoln boss Michael Skubala was delighted to escape with a point after a below-par performance.

He said: “We’re relieved to get a point. We weren’t good today, let’s be honest.

“We neither effected their last line quick enough when we were trying to be direct or kept it well enough when we needed to.

“If you can’t win it, don’t lose it. That’s the story of the day for us.

“They work hard, sometimes not in the brightest way. They’re not very clever about it sometimes.

“In the end it was a big shift, a tough shift and it’s a point for us. Reading are a good side, they have some good players and we struggled to deal with them down the sides.

“I think it was offside from what I’ve seen. I think they’re fair the referees even though they went in our favour.

“I am aware of that rule now so I won’t do it. I’m not really interested in that, I just wanted to get our lads through that game.”

Richie Wellens felt Leyton Orient let down their fans after their rearranged game with Lincoln ended in a late 1-0 defeat.

Orient had been leading 1-0 in the original League One fixture on October 3 when the match was abandoned after 82 minutes due to a medical emergency. O’s fan Derek Reynolds suffered a cardiac arrest and was treated pitchside before he was later pronounced dead.

This time around, Ethan Hamilton struck in the 89th minute to earn a first win for new Lincoln boss Michael Skubala, and the performance left Wellens downbeat.

“It was a really disappointing night for us,” he said.

“I thought first half we were OK but just passed the ball for the sake of it and never got enough crosses into the box. We should have taken the lead with Joe Piggott through a header.

“Second half we were really, really poor.

“It wasn’t the performance that gave justice to the events which took place the last time we played them.

“And for our supporters to pay twice for that is not good enough and not acceptable from our players and the staff.

“Second half we just drifted and we could have won it and probably should have won it.

“Overall it was probably one of the most disappointing games I’ve had since I’ve been at the club.

“The squad is being tested at the moment (because of injuries) but no excuses we were poor tonight and we lacked energy.”

The visitors were indebted to goalkeeper Lukas Jensen for a couple of outstanding saves from Brandon Cooper and Ruel Sotiriou in either half that protected their clean sheet.

Skubala, who was appointed last week and was overseeing his second match in charge, praised his team’s display.

“I thought the lads were brilliant to a man,” Skubala said.

“It’s not an easy place to come here, particularly after the battle we had Saturday at Stevenage and we had to dig really deep and weather a few chances so I’m really proud of them.

“We tweaked a few things at half-time to try and give us more control in the game. I felt we didn’t have enough in the first half but second half we started to threaten and cause more problems for the opposition.

“We freshened things up with our substitutions and stopped them landing the ball in the box with all the players working hard.

“Our goalkeeper made a huge save for us at 0-0 which kept us in the game and we know he’s got that big performance. His kicking was excellent too but overall, it was a great team performance and everyone put in a team shift.

“It was a great finish for the winning goal from Ethan Hamilton.

“I said to the players we have to be sacrificial at times. Be good team mates to each other. That is a key part of a team’s journey.”

Manager Steve Evans wants Stevenage to continue gatecrashing the upper regions of League One after their 1-0 victory over Lincoln lifted them up to fourth in the table.

It is 12 years since the Boro reached the play-offs in what was their first season in the third tier and few would have had them down to threaten a repeat after winning promotion back in May.

They continue to defy expectations, however, as Jamie Reid’s 14th goal of the campaign earned a third league win in a row and handed Michael Skubala a losing start as Lincoln head coach.

Evans said: “We are that little bad apple in the barrel that no-one wants to be in that top group.

“There is only the town of Stevenage and everyone in it – myself, the board, the players, everyone that’s connected with the football club – that wants us in that top group because we’re fighting for something that people thought two years ago would be in the National League.

“We just have to keep working hard, keep principled, keep humble and then take it forward to a real tough game to face Lee Johnson at Fleetwood.

“This is a really good Lincoln side, I think everyone in football was surprised they decided to change manager, but Michael has come in and his team gave us a few problems in the first half.”

It was in the second half that Stevenage took control, with Lincoln goalkeeper Lukas Jensen saving bravely from Reid before Kane Hemmings struck the inside of the post.

The breakthrough came in the 68th minute when a scramble in the six-yard box following Jake Forster-Caskey’s corner led to Reid bundling in.

It could have been more comfortable for the hosts, with Forster-Caskey striking a free-kick just over and Jensen making a good save to deny Reid a second, but there was no doubt they were deserved winners.

Skubala admitted the Imps were ultimately outmuscled, saying: “We need to get stronger, there’s no doubt about that, and it takes time to get physically stronger.

“It’s not something where you can just flick a button, so we’ve got a lot of work to do with the lads off the pitch to get physical.

“They’re strong, it’s just sometimes where you’ve got to do the scrappy stuff away from home against Stevenage that we probably got outfought in those battles.

“I think you saw the work we’ve done [during the week] in the first half and I was quite pleased.

“We won a lot of second balls, which we knew we were going to have to do here, and we had a couple of moments where we probably should have done better in the final third.”

Deflated boss Andy Crosby criticised Port Vale’s naivety after Olamide Shodipo’s last-gasp equaliser for Lincoln saw his side’s winless run stretch to nine Sky Bet League One games with a 1-1 draw.

The Valiants looked set to land an elusive win after Ben Garrity’s first-half effort, but substitute Shodipo slid in late on to steal a share of the spoils at Sincil Bank.

Both sides ended with 10 men after Oliver Arblaster and Paudie O’Connor both saw red in an eventful second half.

“It feels like a defeat,” said Crosby. “It was naive defending at a crucial moment trying to win a ball you can’t win.

“The one clear-cut chance they have in the game and they score.

“It’s very raw and it’s tough to take at this moment in time.

“We lose a player in the second half and that’s naivety again. You’re on a yellow card and you give the referee a decision to make.

“The referee then evens the game up and we go 10-v-10 and they were in the ascendency then.

“A little lapse of concentration and we conceded late on. It’s frustrating.

“For all our good play we still missed chances. We’ve got to become more ruthless.

“This game is unforgiving, just like life sometimes. When you’ve got a team on the rack like then then you’ve got to score and take the game away from them.

“We’re 16 games in and we’re a really nice team to look at and from box to box but we lack that clinical edge. They’re got to find it themselves and we’ve got to find it collectively.”

The Imps recovered from a slow start, which frustrated the home fans, to seal a late point.

Interim boss Tom Shaw said: “It wasn’t a good start, but good sides and good players come through that and we’ve shown that with how strongly we’ve finished in the end.

“I thought we were outstanding with the ball 10-v-10. I thought we were bold with every tactical change we made.

“We’ve had 70 per cent of the ball in the second half and nine opportunities. It felt like we had an extra man.

“We were really pleased with how the lads went about it. There are two ways to try and chase it; you can either lump it into the box or play with more control. We challenged them to do that and they did.

“If the fans were frustrated then that’s something we’re trying to improve and evolve. But we don’t have the profile of a number nine so we have to try and find other ways to get into the box.

“I hope the supporters can see how well we executed that in the second half.

“We finished the game strong and ran out of time to win it.”

Olamide Shadipo’s dramatic last-gasp equaliser secured Lincoln a point from a 1-1 draw in a game which saw both sides finish with 10 men as Port Vale’s winless run in Sky Bet League One stretched to nine games.

Inspired Lukas Jensen produced a string of fine saves to keep the Imps in the game.

First he got the finest touch to divert Tottenham loanee Alfie Devine’s diving header onto a post inside the first 10 minutes.

Alistair Smith squandered a great chance for the hosts when he fired over from Dylan Duffy’s cross.

Danish stopper Jensen made another super save when he kept out Uche Ikpeazu’s effort with his feet.

But there was nothing he could do in the 35th minute when Ben Garrity turned out Ethan Chislett’s cross.

Down the other end Connor Ripley pulled off a good stop to palm Duffy’s effort away from danger.

Teenager Oliver Arblaster was shown red early in the second half after a second booking offence for a reckless late challenge on Ethan Erhahon.

But the numbers were evened up when Paudie O’Connor was sent off eight minutes later for an off-the-ball scuffle with Ikpeazu.

Shadipo stole a share of the spoils as he slid in at the back post to poke Jack Vale’s ball home.

Derek Adams hailed his Morecambe players as “giant killers” after beating League One Lincoln 2-1.

The fourth-tier Shrimps came from behind to reach the second round of the FA Cup at Sincil Bank.

Lasse Sorensen fired the hosts in front in the first half before Burnley loanee Michael Mellon levelled on the stroke of half-time.

Tom Bloxham, on loan from Shrewsbury, won the contest with his first goal for the club.

Adams said: “It’s all about the giant killing and we’ve come here and we’re the giant killers because they’re a big player in League One.

“We could have been out of sight by the end and then they hit the post. But we’re through and that’s what it’s all about.

“It was always going to be a tough draw away from home against a mid-table team in League One.

“But we’ve come here on their own patch and won the game, so we’re delighted.

“We could have probably scored more goals. Tom could have had a hat-trick. The keeper’s made a brilliant save and then he’s had one cleared off the line.

“The game had everything. We could have been out of sight at the end, but we weren’t and then they hit the post.

“But all that matters is getting through and thankfully we’ve done that. It was an incredible performance from the players.”

The managerless Imps limped out at the first hurdle of the historic cup competition for the second year running.

Interim boss Tom Shaw said: “We started really brightly and the game plan was having a huge effect. If we had been cleaner in the final third we could have been two or three goals up.

“The final pass just got away from us and teams like Morecambe are always going to be in a game with the spirit they have.

“But after a brilliant start we have given them hope with a goal just before the break and we lost a bit of control.

“I have to apologise to the fans for no cup run this year and it is a shame because we looked so good before the game turned round.

“I’m really disappointed, as are the players. It’s a difficult one to take for sure for us.”

Lincoln interim head coach Tom Shaw was frustrated after his unbeaten run in temporary charge came to an end, with Oxford coasting to a 2-0 Sky Bet League One victory at a foggy Sincil Bank.

An early goal from Ciaran Brown, plus a second-half goalkeeping howler from home keeper Lukas Jensen, saw second-placed Oxford dominate the Imps, ending their own three-game winless run in fine style.

For Shaw it was a dose of harsh reality following two victories and a draw and he admitted his players had not reached the levels they had previously.

“It was a disappointing night after a very good run,” admitted Shaw. “There will be some reasons for it, which will be understandable, but we come away frustrated after not giving a performance we were hoping for.

“We’ve had a really tough run of games, with a lot of travel, and we just struggled to get to our physical and mental best. They [Oxford] are a very good side with some talented players.

“We were not aggressive enough with the ball. It was probably too ‘nice’ a football match which suited Oxford a little bit more.

“We started well, but then conceded a soft goal. We tried to find a spark and the lads kept trying but we just couldn’t find it and we didn’t create enough volume around their goal.”

Shaw defended big Danish stopper Jensen after his 64th-minute calamity sealed his side’s fate, adding: “He’ll be disappointed as his standards are so high. He has been fantastic and there’s no drama from us.”

The visitors took the lead after 12 minutes, from their first attack, when Brown headed Cameron Brannagan’s near-post corner into the roof of the net.

Oxford could have had more goals, but Jensen denied both substitute Stan Mills and Tyler Goodrham. However, his calamitous error gifted the visitors their second goal, when he attempted to catch Mills’ cross-cum-shot from the right, but only succeeded in fumbling it into his own net.

Oxford boss Liam Manning was delighted with his side’s showing as they bossed large parts of the game.

He said: “It was a real professional performance from us and I am delighted with the players, although it was frustrating at times as in the first half we created some terrific opportunities but didn’t take them. But huge amount of credit to the players.

“We had to make a change early on, bring Stan [Mills] on and we changed the system, and it just shows where the lads are at. I thought we restricted Lincoln to very little, especially in the second half.”

Mills came on after just eight minutes for the injured Sam Long and Manning praised his all-action display, while he also claimed an important assist.

“You forget how young he is,” said Manning. “He can change games, his behaviour is great and I thought he did really well tonight.”

Oxford ended their three-game winless run in style as they breezed to a 2-0 victory at Lincoln in Sky Bet League One.

An early goal from Ciaran Brown, plus a goalkeeping howler from home custodian Lukas Jensen, saw the second-placed side dominate as they inflicted the first defeat of interim Imps boss Tom Shaw’s reign.

The visitors suffered a blow after just eight minutes when Sam Long had to be replaced by Stan Mills after injuring himself in fouling Jack Vale. However, they took the lead four minutes later, from their first attack, when Brown headed Cameron Brannagan’s near-post corner into the roof of the net.

Danny Mandroiu raced clear on an Imps counter-attack two minutes later, but with the Oxford defenders closing him down he opted to shoot from distance and saw his effort easily saved by James Beadle.

Lincoln goalkeeper Lukas Jensen palmed Mills’ effort wide midway through the first half, before Ruben Rodrigues fired into the side-netting for the visitors.

Jensen then expertly saved from Tyler Goodrham as Oxford began to run rings around the home side, with Mills also denied by Jensen just before the break.

A calamitous error by Jensen gifted Oxford their second goal after 64 minutes, when the Danish keeper attempted to catch Mills’ cross-cum-shot from the right but only succeeded in fumbling the ball into his own net.

City immediately responded, with Lasse Sorensen’s curler bringing a flying save out of Beadle, before Jensen tipped over from substitute Marcus McGuane late on.

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell was pleased to end a run of six straight defeats in League One but said there was plenty of room for improvement after a 1-1 draw with Lincoln.

Conceding soft goals has been a common theme in that run of poor form and Exeter did so again on 20 minutes when Will Aimson’s poor header fell for Paudie O’Connor and he crossed for Alistair Smith to score from 10 yards.

The Grecians were much improved after the break and deservedly drew level in the 81st minute when Ryan Trevitt headed in from Demetri Mitchell’s cross but despite plenty of possession, Exeter could not find a winning goal.

“I thought in the first half, we were a little bit edgy again, but we created a great chance for Ads (Admiral Muskwe) and a brilliant chance for James (Scott) just before half-time,” Caldwell said.

“I think we took that momentum at the end of the first half into the second half and in the second half, I have seen the team that I saw earlier in the season playing on the front foot, aggressive, creating opportunities for our wide players one-v-one and thankfully, from that, we created an opportunity for Ryan and he scored a brilliant goal.

“We could have scored more but I think, under the circumstances, it’s a really good point and something for us to build on.

“We can’t keep conceding bad goals. It is something we have tried to address and I don’t think we started the game with the right intensity.

“I felt they scored and just tried to slow the game down, sit in and play on the counter-attack, which most teams do here. But we have to stop conceding those early goals and giving ourselves a mountain (to climb) to get back into the game.”

It was a third game unbeaten for Lincoln’s interim head coach Tom Shaw, who said: “It has been a long week, we have had two very long trips.

“It was a bit of a disaster getting down here with the traffic but the physical effort of this group of players has been phenomenal.

“Perhaps we were just feeling it in the last 10 minutes but the character, grit and determination we have got us over the line and we managed to get a positive result.

“Everybody who watched this game will see Exeter are a very good football team. They passed the ball well, they have got nice rotations, they are obviously well drilled and well coached. And the run of the games they have had, some of their results have not been just so we knew it was a tough one.

“There is some real technical ability and I am not sure whether we have unlocked it to its maximum to this point.”

Peterborough stretched their unbeaten Sky Bet League One run to six games as a second-half double saw off Lincoln, 2-0.

The hosts had the woodwork to thank for not being behind at the break as Lincoln’s Danny Mandroiu lifted a shot against the bar before Sean Roughan missed with a free header from a corner.

But it was all about Posh in the second period as David Ajiboye came off the bench to set them on the way to glory in spectacular style in the 53rd minute, racing onto an Ephron Mason-Clark pass and arrowing a terrific 20-yard strike past goalkeeper Lukas Jensen.

Ajiboye, introduced late in the first half following an injury to Kwame Poku, had seen another effort saved by Jensen moments before making the breakthrough.

Jensen then denied Peter Kioso and Mason-Clark fired over before Posh clinched the points in the 83rd minute courtesy of Joel Randall’s first EFL goal for the club, more than two years after his arrival.

The former Exeter player coolly controlled a Mason-Clark cutback from the left and steered a low shot past Jensen to seal victory, before Harrison Burrows came close to a third in stoppage-time, striking the bar with a shot.

A man has died after being taken unwell towards the end of Leyton Orient and Lincoln’s abandoned Sky Bet League One match at Brisbane Road, the London Ambulance Service has confirmed.

A fan ran on the pitch towards referee Stephen Martin to draw attention to the fact that a member of the public needed medical attention in the East Stand.

The match then continued for less than a minute before around 20 supporters sat down on the pitch at the home end to alert the referee to the continuing medical emergency, with play soon halted.

As paramedics appeared to give the man CPR on the side of the pitch, the referee took the teams off the field.

The match was abandoned an hour after the initial stoppage occurred and as the fans left the ground, the medical teams were still in attendance.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday the man had later been pronounced dead.

“We were called yesterday at 9:28pm to reports of a person becoming unwell at Leyton Orient Football Club, on Brisbane Road,” a London Ambulance Service spokesperson said in a statement.

“We sent a number of resources to the scene, including an incident response officer, two medics in fast-response cars and an ambulance crew. Our first medic arrived in approximately four minutes.

“We treated a man at the scene, but very sadly, despite our teams’ best efforts, he was later pronounced dead.”

Leyton Orient were leading 1-0 when the game was stopped, through an early goal from Joe Pigott.

The English Football League will determine whether the fixture will be rescheduled, or if the result at the time of the abandonment will stand. The decision will be taken only after consultation with both clubs.

Guidance is in place for clubs if a supporter becomes unwell in a stadium, with local circumstances determining the action taken.

It is strongly advised the nearest steward is made aware, who will ensure that the crowd medical team is notified and that appropriate care is provided.

Then should a situation arise where there is a need for the match to be halted, a decision will be taken between the crowd medical team, the ground safety team and the match officials, with the information relayed to the supporters at the ground. The EFL will also be informed at this point.

All clubs have a matchday medical plan with dedicated crowd medical teams in the stadium, ready to assist at any point during the match.

Leyton Orient issued a statement on Tuesday evening following the decision to abandoned the game.

“The thoughts of everyone at Leyton Orient Football Club are with the individual involved and their loved ones at this distressing time,” the statement read.

“The club would like to thank all supporters in attendance at Brisbane Road this evening for the understanding and compassion shown, during a very difficult situation.

“The club will provide a further update in due course.”

Tomas Soucek’s second-half goal ensured West Ham overcame a tough test in the Carabao Cup third round at Lincoln with a 1-0 victory.

This was nothing other than ‘job done’ for the Hammers as Soucek’s 70th-minute strike from a corner booked their place in the next round.

Boss David Moyes made a host of changes to his side but Soucek was one of his Premier League starters who was involved and that proved vital while goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski also made a number of good saves.

League One Lincoln, who were winners at Sheffield United in the last round, gave them a scare and should have led in the first half but they could not produce another upset.

This home tie for the Imps was a reward for that penalty shootout victory at Bramall Lane in August and they had designs on a second shock.

They had to survive a scare in the opening 20 minutes as defender Sean Roughan slipped at the vital moment when receiving a pass, allowing Max Cornet to burst forward.

However, goalkeeper Lukas Jensen got out well to smother efforts from Danny Ings and Said Benrahma.

From that point, the Imps began to cause their visitors some problems, with Reeco Hackett firing a fierce shot from distance straight at Fabianski.

They thought they had taken the lead in the 26th minute as Alex Mitchell turned in Ali Smith’s cross at the far post but he was offside.

Lincoln kept going and should have gone in front just before half-time.

A nice move saw Smith in space on the left and he sent in a perfect cross for Hackett to produce a powerful header that seemed destined to ripple the net but Fabianski somehow palmed it away with a flying stop.

A storm blew through Sincil Bank in the opening 15 minutes of the second half and with the wind at their tails, Lincoln penned West Ham in and they would have fancied their chances of creating something with their direct approach.

But the quality was lacking and as the wind died down, so too did the Imps’ threat.

The Hammers began to take control, though were hardly banging the door down and needed a set-piece to go in front.

Benrahma whipped in a low corner from the left and Soucek prodded home at the near post.

They almost made it 2-0 shortly after as Ben Johnson let fly with 30-yard shot that crashed into the post.

Lincoln went for it in the final 15 minutes in a bid to force penalties and Dylan Duffy tested Fabianksi with a stinging shot from distance, which the keeper met with a full-length save.

West Ham were able to see it out to make it through to the fourth round for the fourth successive year.

Lasse Sorensen has been studying fairytales after going back to school – now he is ready to write his own against West Ham.

Online lessons, assignments and a six-hour exam has made the Lincoln midfielder an expert.

The works of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, which include the Emperor’s New Clothes, the Ugly Duckling and the Princess and the Pea, have been the focus.

Enrolling in the Voksenuddannelsescentre, adult education courses, Sorensen completed his Danish literature class in the summer, all part of the 23-year-old’s plan to earn the qualifications he missed growing up.

It is apt, playing for a club known for its recent romantic cup stories, as Lincoln target another against the Hammers in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

“The school takes it right back to analyse fairytales, novels and old scripts from 300 years ago,” Sorensen tells the PA news agency, ahead of the third-round tie at Sincil Bank.

“So all the very boring stuff that I don’t think anybody really finds interesting, I certainly didn’t! I’ve done every fairytale Hans Christian Andersen has written.

“In Denmark you need subjects like Danish, maths, history and physics before you can do anything in later life. So I took Danish, the equivalent to A-Levels in England, so if I want to go to Uni one day, I can.

“When you play senior football a lot of it is games, games, games. There’s so much football.

“So, sometimes the best thing to do is leave and get your head off it. I was thinking ‘what can I do which can be beneficial?’ I’m a thinker so if something happens I’ll sit and think about it a lot, good or bad.

“I’ll sit and think if I don’t have anything else do to, so why not go back to education?

https://x.com/itvfootball/status/1649865138101420032?s=20

“It can never be bad and the main thing was just to get my brain off football sometimes. Otherwise, on your CV, you’ve got a little bit to say you’ve played football for a few years and done nothing else.”

Leaving his home town, Vejen, and first team Esbjerg to join Stoke in 2016 Sorensen’s education took a back seat.

At just 15 he moved to England without any qualifications and, while there were English lessons at the Potters, football was the focus.

“Because I was Danish, I was just studying the language. I came to the club and then had to quickly learn as much as I could,” says the midfielder, who made eight appearances for Stoke before joining Lincoln in 2021.

“So on the Wednesday, which was normally when the English lads used to do the education, I spent my time learning English.

“The hardest bit of going back to school was just starting and getting your head around it.

“As much as I’ve enjoyed getting my mind off other things, it’s never the most exciting thing to sit down and do.

“But that was the good thing as well because you’ll say to yourself ‘you need to get it done otherwise you won’t get it.’

“It was disciplined, the hardest and the best thing was I had to be disciplined about it.”

His online studies culminated in the exam back in Vejen this summer with Sorensen’s graft paying off as he scored 10 – the equivalent to an A.

“I had to sit with 100 people in a big school hall with my laptop for six hours, you couldn’t speak either of course. It was a bit different to what I’ve done for the last eight years,” says the Denmark Under-20 international, who is also planning to start a financial advisor course.

He is now in a break from his studies as he prepares to start a maths course in a few months. Football remains the priority and the immediate one is another Premier League scalp.

Last season Lincoln reached the Carabao Cup last 16, where they lost to Southampton, as they added to the club’s cup pedigree after their impressive run to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 2017 while still in the National League.

A shoot-out win at Sheffield United last month earned the Imps a crack at the Europa Conference League holders and Sorensen knows Mark Kennedy’s side can write another chapter.

He said: “It’s always 11 v 11. Some might be the favourites and some the underdogs but if you want it more than the others, you are the ones who win it.

“They’re a really, really good team, they are quality players, but it’s not actually won yet.

“It’s been shown before, we beat Sheffield United in the last round so we’ve got a growing belief we could do it again.

“You’ve always got to believe in yourself to do the thing most people think you can’t.”