'A mixture of frustration and disappointment' - Lincoln boss on Town draw

The Imps took the lead through Morgan Rogers' fine strike in the first half, but were pegged back by a James Wilson header in the second stanza as honours ended even at Portman Road.

Morgan Rogers celebrates his first half goal to give Lincoln a 1-0 lead. (Image: Steve Waller)

“A little bit frustrated,” Appleton told Lincolnshire Live after the game. “I thought we performed really well in the first half.

"And I thought we defended reasonably well in the second half. We gave up a bit of territory and they had a lot of possession in front of us, but Alex (Palmer) never had a lot to do.

“The biggest disappointment is two things. One is the way we conceded. To concede a goal where we lose the first contact (from the free-kick which was met by Luke Chambers before being headed in by Wilson), lose the second contact, that was a bit disappointing.

“And the turnover, when we won the ball back in the second half, there were far too many times when the ball went back into them and it was coming back again.

“No excuses. Our proper footballers in the team turned the ball over too easily in the second half and it cost us a couple of points potentially.”

The Imps stayed third in the League One table after the draw, with Town now seventh, a point behind sixth-placed Portsmouth with a game in hand.

And Appleton concluded: "In the last three or four minutes there was only going to be one winner. We were creating clean chances, so there’s a mixture of frustration and disappointment.

“But we’ll take the point and it will be a good point if we can get three points on Saturday (at home to Rochdale).

“If we can’t win against sides in and around us we have to make sure we don’t lose and they can’t make too much ground on us.”

Town host 15-th placed Plymouth next, with a 3pm kick-off at Portman Road on Saturday.