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Australian pair Callum Elder and debutant Joe Gauci impressed as Lincoln City crushed Blackpool 4-1 in the EFL Cup. Elder scored and supplied an assist on his first start for EFL Championship club Lincoln, who outclassed their 10-man opponents at Bloomfield Road on Wednesday (AEST). ANALYSIS: ‘Hard to believe he’s only 18!’ Stunning 96% stat as Herrington earns MOTM in first Hull start Lincoln made 11 changes to their starting XI following the weekend’s 3-1 league loss to Portsmouth, with Australia international defender Elder and Socceroos goalkeeper Gauci coming into the line-up. Elder and Co. starred as Lincoln punched their ticket to the next round, with the three-time Socceroo capping the scoring in the 77th minute, having created a goal 24 minutes earlier as he earned an 8.4 rating via Sofascore. Tanto Olaofe, Tom Bayliss and Rob Street were also on target. After the match, Lincoln head coach Tom Shaw said: “That’s our best performance so far this season. I thought we came out in the first half, stuck our chests out a little bit and showed some real confidence, definitely in possession. “We solved what they were trying to do and got beyond their first line of pressure really well. Joe Gauci also spotted the moments where it was time to go in behind their back line. “I thought the way we came out with real confidence set the tone for the evening.” Shaw added: “Their goal was a bit of a sucker punch. All we said to the players at half-time was: don’t be too despondent, you’ve played really well so go and grow into the half again. “I thought we set the tone. Obviously, it was made significantly easier with the red card, but the management of the game from that point was about as professional as you could get. “We kept the ball really well but were still a threat around the goal. There were loads of little subplots in there for individuals – full debuts, players coming back from injury – so it was a very positive evening.” Aussie starts first game of the season against Premier League outfit Caleb Watts earned his first start of the 2026-27 season as Plymouth Argyle went down 4-2 to Premier League side Coventry City in the EFL Cup second round. A substitute in England’s League One on the weekend, Watts came into the line-up for just his second appearance of the campaign for Plymouth – who were 2-0 down inside five minutes. Plymouth managed to rally and level proceedings in the second half, before Coventry powered past the home side. Former Australia youth international Watts, 24, was mentioned by his coach afterwards. “Ronan (Curtis) was unused this evening. I thought Bim (Pepple) and Evo (Will Evans) had a real good impact, Caleb Watts first start of the season, Oli, Bradley (Ibrahim),” said Plymouth head coach and former Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley. “In these forward areas, going from absolutely bare bones and four for four positions, now it’s six or seven for four positions at the weekend (at home to Bradford City in League One on Saturday), and it’s a nice problem to have.” Meanwhile, Socceroo Alex Robertson impressed again in Cardiff City’s 2-1 loss to fellow Championship side Norwich City in the EFL Cup. Robertson was a standout performer among his Cardiff teammates, finishing with a 7.8 Sofascore rating in his 90-minute display. Mohamed Toure was not in the Norwich squad amid mounting speculation over his future. Lucas Herrington produced a man-of-the-match display in Hull City’s penalty shootout win over Stoke City. You can read more about it here.