Michael Appleton praised the way his side bounced back in style against Northampton Town after two defeats in a row.
The Imps, 4-0 winners at the PTS Academy Stadium, dominated large parts of the game and after defeats to Sunderland and Shrewsbury Town, Appleton believes they could have helped his side.
Now, the Imps look forward to welcoming bottom of the table Burton Albion, before a trip to Hull City on December 29.
Team Mentality
The Imps have found facing sides who are struggling at the bottom of the table hard to deal with at times this season. They were forced to come from behind to beat Wigan Athletic, while they suffered defeat to Shrewsbury last Tuesday.
However, two goals from Brennan Johnson helped City to a resounding 4-o win against the Cobblers. It marked an impressive turnaround after below-par performances against Sunderland and Shrewsbury.
When asked about how difficult games against teams at the bottom of the table can be, Appleton said: “It becomes a mentality and a mindset.
“That was the difficulty I suppose going into a game like Northampton on Saturday. Not that I want this and not that I wanted it anyway, it may have helped us having a couple of defeats because it sharpened the mind and the focus going into that game.
![](https://usercontent.one/wp/thelinc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918_112809-350x263.jpg?media=1720779709)
“I hope just because we have had a fantastic result at Northampton we don’t loosen and step away from that. I don’t think we will as we have got targets to hit and the Burton and Hull games are big games for us from that point of view.
“It’s going to be a tough game. They are a very experienced side, they’ve got a little bit of youth in the team, but they are a very experienced side.
“If you get them on a wrong day and when they are at it, we could get punished.”
Christmas fixturesÂ
The run of fixtures during December and over Christmas can often prove to be unrelenting.
However, this year six sides in League One will not be in action on Boxing Day due to Covid-19 outbreaks within their squad.
One of those teams is Hull City, who Lincoln face on December 29, but the Imps boss does not believe that necessarily gives them an advantage.
“Maybe, I think time will tell,” Appleton said.
“I do think that most managers and players would prefer to have the points on the board.
“I would definitely prefer the opportunity to get games played and try and get points on the board rather than having to have games to catch up on.”
Some managers ask their players to train on Christmas Day. However, Appleton has given his side the day off to spend with their families.
“I do think it is an important time with the families and you do have to get that balance right,” he said.
“But we will end up training for three days solid going into Christmas Day, so there will be no day off midweek. We will train really hard this week and make sure we prepare for the game on Boxing Day.”