Everton manager Marco Silva felt his side did what they needed to do against Lincoln as he targets a run in the Carabao Cup.
The Premier League side were pushed all the way by their League One opponents but advanced to the third round after two late goals gave them a 4-2 victory at Sincil Bank.
Headers from Alex Iwobi and Richarlison in the final 10 minutes finally swung the tie decisively in Everton’s favour.
Harry Anderson had put the hosts in front after only 21 seconds before a superb Lucas Digne free-kick and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s penalty turned the game on its head.
However, a thunderous volley from Bruno Andrade levelled things up again before the late drama.
“It was important that we were serious and respected the competition and respected Lincoln,” said Silva.
“We started in the worst way but after that we did our best to stay in the competition. We were losing but we were playing the way we wanted to play.
“We scored a great goal with Luca but even before that, we had created a lot of chances and we were doing the right things.
“We showed personality to keep playing the way we should play and we did some things really well. We did our obligation and we deserved to go through to the next round.”
The third-round draw took place after Everton’s win at Sincil Bank, with Silva’s side facing a trip to Hillsborough to play Sheffield Wednesday.
He added: “It will be another tough match. Sheffield Wednesday is a Championship club who have started well and we will do our best to stay in the competition.”
Moise Keane was one of four players to make their full debut for Everton on Wednesday night.
The striker, signed from Juventus this month, was one of five changes to the team as fellow summer recruits Fabian Delph, Iwobi and Djibril Sidibe also made their first starts for the Blues.
The other change from the Premier League defeat at Aston Villa saw Mason Holgate selected in defence.
Lincoln manager Danny Cowley was pleased that Silva fielded such a strong side and he felt his Lincoln team can be proud of their performance.
“Everton showed us respect with the team they brought here and I must say, they were excellent. They ask so many questions of you defensively” he said.
“The fact we managed to stay in the game as long as we did is testament to our players. For us to be as competitive as we were against a very good team is credit to our players.
“At 2-2 it was all to play for but – in the end – it wasn’t mean to be.”
