JEREL Ifil banished the suspension blues after a frustrating spell in the stands and promptly praised his well balanced' central defensive partner.

The former Watford man had been out of action since seeing red at Stockport County but was recalled for yesterday's game at Lincoln City.

Victory was the best possible way to celebrate being back in the side but he admitted the time out of the team had seen his match sharpness suffer a touch.

And as a defender, you want to be celebrating clean sheets as well as points so the Beast wasn't 100 per cent satisfied with the visitors' afternoon at Sincil Bank.

Ifil, who partnered Jamie Vincent against the Imps, Ashley Westwood the man to make way, said: "It would have been nice to get the clean sheet to be fair and I wasn't happy with the two goals they scored.

"I think we could have cut out those opportunities.

"But on the positive side, we have scored three goals away from home and got the three points.

"That's a massive plus for us.

"When we made it 3-1, obviously they pushed three up front and basically just threw everything at us.

"They got the second goal and then we had to remain solid, as a team we had to remain solid, which we did.

"I was a bit tired at the end.

"When you've played week in, week out and then miss a couple of games you think you'll be alright when you get back in but you do feel it a bit."

As for playing alongside acting skipper Vincent, Ifil said: "He looks fine and has done really well.

"He's a good talker and he brings that quality into the position with him.

"Being left footed as well, he balances things up.

"First and foremost though, he's a defender and whatever position, he wins his tackles and headers.''