WHEN he was kicking his heels on the Burnley bench only a couple of months ago, Paul Rachubka could hardly have dreamed he'd be just one clean sheet from a play-off final.

That's the incentive for the 22-year-old Charlton stopper at the McAlpine tonight, however, as he bids to round off his Town loan by securing a place at Cardiff.

Already pressing Steve Harper for honours as Town's best ever loan keeper, Rachubka has made a big impact and remains focused on just one major target - promotion.

"Earlier in the season I did not expect to be in this position at all, but it would be fantastic to go through to the Millennium Stadium and that's what we are all determined to achieve," said the man who began his career with Manchester United.

"It's been fantastic here so far and, backed by a massive home crowd against Lincoln, hopefully it can get better.

"Football is like that. We were all shocked and deflated by what happened on the final day of the season and we still can't quite believe it, but we've got another chance now to be in Torquay's position and go up, so we've got to take it."

Rachubka makes his 15th start for the club tonight looking for a seventh clean sheet.

He believes Town can build on the goals scored by Iffy Onuora and David Mirfin at Sincil Bank, simply because he knows his colleagues can play much better.

"Saturday was an example of exactly why we've done so well - 110% commitment from the whole team," he said.

"That is Huddersfield Town at the moment. That is why we win matches.

"We didn't play the best that we can by any means, but our effort pulled us through and we got the result we wanted.

"Everyone knows it's going to be a big battle again, because Lincoln's gameplan is to get the ball forward quickly, but we will all work together and aim to pass the ball around them. It was ironic that we should score our goals from corners because, ordinarily, you would probably have expected Lincoln to be the more likely, but we defended well and worked hard and deserved to come away with the win."

Town also showed plenty of character to bounce back after Gary Fletcher levelled for Keith Alexander's side just six minutes into the second half - sparking a fierce spell of pressure in which Rachubka and his colleagues had to stand firm.

"At half time down there I thought we were going to press on and get two or three more goals to kill things off for tonight," he said.

"They came back at us, but if anyone had offered us a 2-1 lead to take into the second leg we would have taken it.

"It's still close, but if we go out and give the same effort as Saturday, I'm confident we can come through."