Frustrated Huddersfield boss Jan Siewert sympathised with the club's disgruntled fans but said he does not fear for his job after a Carabao Cup first-round exit.

A number of fans booed the manager and team, relegated from the Premier League last season, after a 1-0 defeat to Lincoln left them winless in three games this term.

"I can't defend the performance tonight," admitted Siewert.

"Of course I can do this job, but we have to manage expectation. There's talk of bouncing back into the Premiership, but we are in the Championship.

"The importance is not to put too much pressure on the players because it leads to a performance like this.

"We all want to win football matches, but we have to take steps to that. It's difficult, but we lost today because we didn't perform very well.

"It's about all of us. The supporters are amazing and I can understand today why they are not pleased with our performance. I share their opinion.

"I completely understand why the supporters are not satisfied. It was a bad performance from us because we didn't show the fight on the pitch.

"I've not thought about giving up, not at all. I don't fear being sacked.

"I spoke to the chairman a couple of days ago and we're on the same page. We have to stabilise in this league, that's the biggest aim."

Lincoln assistant boss Nicky Cowley saluted his side as they dumped their higher-ranked opponents out – and earned a tie with Everton – thanks to Harry Anderson's smart 55th-minute volley.

They could have won by more had it not been for a series of smart saves from Town keeper Ryan Schofield and Cowley, assistant to his brother Danny, said: "It's a fantastic result for us.

"It was a performance full of commitment, desire and determination. We pride ourselves on that and our performance showed that in abundance.

"We had to be very brave in our approach and our best chances came from our pressing.

"If I'm being ultra-critical then we should have maybe taken more of those chances, especially in the first half.

"They have a very clear philosophy and if you get it wrong they can cut through you.

"It's a huge challenge coming to a big club like Huddersfield. They were obviously a Premiership team last year and they boast a squad with lots of quality.

"For the first 35 minutes I thought we were absolutely outstanding and in the second half we were heroic in our effort.

"Hopefully we can keep our momentum going. We might be a small squad, but we've got a squad with a really big heart."