Saturday's trip to Goodison Park has a similar feel in that ahead of another big game for the club, the Imps are again challenging for promotion as the current leaders of League Two.

"The cup run two years ago helped the team win promotion," said Cowley. "It fast-tracked us and we improved as a team and a squad as a consequence of that run and that experience.

"It's going to be a great experience again on Saturday and we'll learn loads about the group, which I hope will stand us in good stead.

"When you play against the best, they test you technically and tactically and always find weaknesses that perhaps you didn't know about. We like the feedback these sorts of games create for us.

"So we want to try to have a good run in the cup again because we've shown it can be done side by side with a good run in the league.

"(In 2017) everyone in the National League was telling us it would get in the way and eventually catch up with us, but what people don't realise is it helped us win the league because when it got to the business end of the season in the league we had already lived big games in the FA Cup and been in those pressure situations.

"Hopefully the experience can have the same affect this season."

During that cup run, Lincoln accounted for Championship side Ipswich and Premier League opponents Brighton and Burnley along the way before finally succumbing to Arsenal, who went on to lift the trophy.

Cowley said: "We are not going there just to make up the numbers, we want to give a good performance.

"We've had experience of these games before and what they entail and we know what it takes to win these kind of games, because we have won one before.

"It'll be as hard as the Arsenal game we played in the 2016-17 season, we're sure of that."

Cowley is hopeful that first-choice goalkeeper Josh Vickers (calf) will be fit. Leading scorer John Akinde could be restored to the starting line-up after the 11-goal striker began on the bench against Port Vale on New Year's Day.

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