Joey Barton joked that the food that he eats on Saturday night will taste much better given that his side conjured up a late equaliser at the Memorial Stadium against Lincoln.

Barton explained that he would be going out for dinner to celebrate his 41st birthday following his team’s second home draw in Sky Bet League One this season, and that he will be in a much better mood after Josh Grant headed in Antony Evans’ corner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

The former Manchester City player can see progression in his Bristol Rovers side after they grabbed a late point, but still remain winless on their own turf.

“We were the side trying to make stuff happen,” said Barton. “Mark’s done a very good job to prepare a side to sit and counter.

“Groundhog Day again and we had to show our learning from recent weeks. While I don’t think we’ve fired on all cylinders today, I thought there was definitely signs of progress there against a disciplined, well-organised Lincoln side that don’t concede many goals.

“A point’s a positive because we were in a losing position. We’ve had a lot of ball and a lot of dominance, but we’ve got to work on the training ground to get even better.”

Barton explained that things might have been easier for his side if Rovers had managed to complete the signing of former striker Jonson Clarke-Harris after a club-record deal was agreed with Peterborough, but failed to be completed before the EFL transfer deadline on Friday.

“It would have been nice to get that spear tip and the final piece of the jigsaw, but you don’t get everything you want in life,” he explained.

“We haven’t managed by seconds to get the deal done and we have to make a solution.”

Lincoln head coach Mark Kennedy praised his side’s fortitude as they came within seconds of grabbing a fourth victory in six league matches.

Captain Adam Jackson opened the scoring in the 53rd minute as the ball fell into his path after goalkeeper Matt Cox parried an Ethan Erhahon shot.

“I’ve seen the possession stats and they don’t bother me because we were one up. We had four or five players on the backline and Reeco [Hackett-Fairchild] was running on fumes,” he said.

“There were some real tired legs out there. I was really worried about the game. Especially playing Blackpool home then Sheffield United away, a Wednesday game and a day less to recover, and then a huge trip down here.

“It was a game I was personally really worried about. It’s a brilliant, brilliant point and it would have been amazing to get three because it was so late in the game, but no complaints.”

Lukas Jensen was the hero for League One Lincoln as they continued Sheffield United’s miserable start to the season with a 3-2 Carabao Cup penalty shootout victory at Bramall Lane.

After a drab 90 minutes ended goalless, the Imps goalkeeper saved spot-kicks from Louis Marsh and Benie Traore to send his side through.

This was not the performance or result that the Blades will have been looking for having lost their opening three Premier League games of the season and boss Paul Heckingbottom will have been presented with more questions than answers.

Mark Kennedy’s side will now dream of drawing one of the big boys in the next round after a deserved win.

It was no surprise that United did not fire as they fell in line with the majority of Premier League clubs by making wholesale changes to their side for the visit of the Imps.

And that had an inevitable effect on the game as the Blades were unable to play with any fluency and Lincoln more than held their own.

Reeco Hackett had a curling shot saved by Adam Davies, while the visitors also wasted several good moments on the counter-attack.

The Blades had to wait until the 51st minute to have a shot on target as Ollie Norwood sent debutant Cameron Archer through on goal, but the striker’s aim was off and he shot straight at Jensen.

Lincoln finally cut the Blades open on a transition after Daniel Mandroui’s incisive pass was perfect for Teddy Bishop, but he could only stab wide from close range.

Sheffield United looked the likeliest to force a late goal which would avoid the shootout lottery, but John Egan flashed a header wide and Auston Trusty could only plant his free header straight at Jensen.

That meant it would be decided from the spot and after Jensen had kept out poor Marsh and Traore efforts, the job was done when Egan skied the final penalty of the night.

Comeback defender Jack Iredale scored his first goal for the club as Bolton recorded their best opening day win for 12 years with a 3-0 Sky Bet League One success over Lincoln.

Australian Iredale had not played for last season’s play-off semi-finalists since injuring his knee at Barnsley on January 2.

But the ex-Cambridge star needed only four minutes to make an impact, heading in Aaron Morley’s corner.

The Imps sought a quick response and Ben House fired a shot into the side netting.

However, the Trotters were always in control and Randell Williams headed wide from debutant Josh Dacres-Cogley’s cross before the interval.

Lincoln’s set-piece frailty was evident again when Wanderers doubled their lead after 58 minutes. This time the unchallenged Victor Adeboyejo headed in from Williams’ corner.

Bolton could not match their 4-0 win at QPR on the first day of the 2011-12 campaign but they added a third goal 16 minutes from time as Lincoln’s new skipper Paudie O’Connor turned a cross from George Thomason – the substitute’s first touch of the game – into his own net.