Rob Elliot says his first win as Crawley Town head coach will give the team “a lot of belief and incredible pride”.
The Red Devils produced an impressive display to beat Lincoln 3-0 at Broadfield Stadium on Tuesday night to end a run of six straight defeats in League One.
Elliot has endured a difficult start to life as Crawley boss with three losses since being appointed earlier this month after Scott Lindsey left for MK Dons.
But goals from Will Swan, Ronan Darcy and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy helped sink an Imps side who had been unbeaten away from home since New Year’s Day.
“That sort of performance from the team is something you can get behind and build foundations on,” Elliot told BBC Radio Surrey.
“To win 3-0 at home against a very good Lincoln team with loads of crosses into the box, corners, dealing with the direct balls and then scoring from transitions which we talked about was fantastic.
“I think the lads need to take a lot of belief in the fact that they’re able to hurt teams going forward, but they can also now take confidence in that they’ve got the clean sheet and can stand up to a very good team.”
The 38-year-old said he was left with a sense of “overriding pride” but also insisted he will “never get carried away” with “just one win”.
“The team is so young and I think they will learn so much from it,” Elliot said.
“Like I said, incredibly proud of all of them.
“It’s easy to talk about everyone but you have to because every single person played their part and was absolutely exceptional.
“We just need the players to understand why they won and keep getting better from there.”
Crawley are back in League One for the first time in nine years after winning promotion via the play-offs last season.
They travel to a Northampton side at the weekend who are two places and two points above them as they look to clamber out of the relegation zone.