Lincoln boss Michael Skubala admitted his ideal FA Cup third-round opponent would be Nottingham Forest away after the Imps clinched a 4-3 victory at League One rivals Crawley.
Skubala confessed his men had made “a bit of a nightmare start” after Jack Roles and Tola Showunmi had given Crawley a 2-0 lead after only 13 minutes.
But Paudie O’Connor and Jovon Makama replied before the break before two quickfire goals from Erik Ring and Jack Moylan at the start of the second half put the Imps in control.
They should have pulled further clear before Jeremy Kelly gave Crawley late hope by driving home from the edge of the area.
Skubala said: “It was a really disappointing start, but we reset and went on to completely dominate the match.
“Long may the chances continue and the message to the players is to simplify the finishes. We’ll need to kill games off better in the future.
“It will be a reward for my family if we are drawn away at Nottingham Forest in the next round.”
Crawley boss Rob Elliot made five changes, giving debuts to three players, but stressed his hand was forced by injuries.
He said: ”We conceded two poor goals in the first half and two more at the start of the second and that has done us.
“Somehow some saves from Eddie (Beach) and some poor finishing by them kept us in the game.
“I’m not going to criticise the players for their commitment. We’ve got to learn what we are good at and what we are not.
“Playing against a very good side, you do not want to be giving away poor goals.”
