Lincoln boss Michael Appleton's bold claim following Wanderers defeat

Lincoln boss Michael Appleton says his side should have been “two or three up” against Wanderers following their defeat at the UniBol.

George Johnston, Kieran Sadlier and Amadou Bakayoko were all on target for the Whites, who have now won six home games in a row.

Appleton felt there were plenty of positives to take from his side’s performance and insists they deserved something from the game.

“The thing that’s frustrating about games like tonight is that there was so much good that happened and it will be forgotten about,” said the Lincoln chief.

“That first half especially, we should have been two or three up. That will be forgotten about because we’ve lost to a side who are obviously on a good run.”

The result leaves the Imps 17th in the League One table – five points above the drop zone, despite having played a game fewer than most of the sides around them.

"I was really frustrated to go in at 0-0 because I thought we really stifled what they were trying to do and made them go from back to front and they couldn't play through their midfield,” added Appleton.

"In the second half they had pressure but we've got to be big enough and brave enough to recognise that.

“Ultimately what happens in both boxes counts, we've missed opportunities and not done enough to get blocks in on shots or stop crosses.

"We didn't get on the front foot after the equaliser. The young players have to learn and go through experiences like tonight and next time in that moment they need to do better.”

Wanderers are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they head to Stadium MK to face in-form MK Dons (KO 3pm).

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Maybe a bit OTTbut he has a point since they missed a couple of gilt edged chances. Still, the game goes to those who take them which at the moment is us. Don’t think they’ll go down they’re a pretty good side.

Whitesince63 wrote:Maybe a bit OTTbut he has a point since they missed a couple of gilt edged chances. Still, the game goes to those who take them which at the moment is us. Don’t think they’ll go down they’re a pretty good side.

I don't think it's OTT -Appleton is right.
John Marquis alone surprisingly missed two absolute sitters - very unusual for him and if we'd created chances of that calibre and not finished them we'd be tearing our hair out.
What worried me more was how their midfield carved through us and bypassed our press with ease - Scully in particular tortured our midfield.
But luck was on our side and eventually we managed to create decent enough chances against their dubious back four although how that cross managed to make it's way through to Johnston for the opener I'll never know.
Lincoln are a quality team but **** 'em, we've moved on already.