Cowley impressed by Lester the manager

It will be Chesterfield’s first visit to Lincoln since 2011 but a second visit in recent months for the Spireites’ new boss Jack Lester.

Lester, who took over the reins at the Proact Stadium last week, took a Nottingham Forest under-23s side to take on Cowley’s Imps in the summer.

And the Lincoln boss was impressed with what he saw that day in a game which saw the young Reds lead 3-1 with seven minutes to go only to lose 4-3.

“I met Jack a couple of times over the summer I was really impressed with the culture he created at Nottingham Forest,” said Cowley.

“When I look at the Forest young players – their attitude, application and mentality – that’s a by-product of the culture Jack had set.

“Given time, I have no doubt he will go on to create the same culture at Chesterfield. Their players will benefit, just like the Nottingham Forest ones did.”

And added: “He was an outstanding player. He’s certainly served his apprenticeship in academy football.

“He’ll have learned a lot from that and is now equipped to go and tackle first-team football.

“He’s certainly got the skills set and character to be very successful. He’s always been impressive whenever I’ve seen his teams play.

“We had a good meeting in the summer and we both took a lot from that.

“The culture he created at Forest’s academy is something we’d like to see in our academy.

“We’re working hard to create a winning mentality within our academy. The under-18s have had a fantastic start to the season and are right at the top of their division.”