Michael Appleton said that his Lincoln City side ‘didn’t deserve’ the point they collected against Swindon Town.The Imps had to come from behind twice to seal a 2-2 draw against the relegation-threatened side.
Despite this, he maintains that his squad continuing to make him ‘proud’ as the season progresses.
The draw meant that City were replaced at the top of the Sky Bet League One table by Peterborough United. As a result, Appleton is hoping that they can bounce back away to Plymouth Argyle.
Swindon Draw
Appleton accused his side as being ‘arrogant’ following the draw. Goals from Jorge Grant and Morgan Rogers helped the Imps equalise twice, but despite dominating possession and large parts of the second half, Lincoln could not find the winner.
The Imps boss is hopeful that his side can bounce back at Home Park on Saturday: “Obviously, emotions aside, my thoughts are still the same. But I think ultimately it is a point, when all things are considered, we probably didn’t deserve.
“Not that Swindon were good or very good on the night, it’s just some of the outrageous errors and mistakes we made [that I was disappointed with].”
Despite a mix of fatigue and the continuous run of fixtures, the Imps are continuing to pick up points, which Appleton highlighted as something that could be vitally important come the end of the season.
“It’s important; I think from a performance level point of view there won’t be many teams, in terms of actual performances, that will have been better than us this year,” he said.
“It is a good sign that when you are not particularly at it that you can still pick up points. It doesn’t matter whether it is Premier League or Conference (now the National League), I’ve never seen a side, yet, who play well every single game.”
Appleton added: “For as disappointed as I was on Tuesday night, the reality is I’m not taking anything away from the players – the players have been incredible.
“These players have done Lincoln City proud over the last 29 games. We’ve got to be really thankful that we have been able to put a group together that have been able to have cope and deal with everything that has been thrown at them so far. Hopefully they will stand up to the challenge of what’s ahead of them.”
Return of Callum Morton
Callum Morton recently returned to training after suffering a shoulder injury in September.
His injury meant that Tom Hopper has acted the lone striker for much of the season, with Brennan Johnson replacing him in attack when he has been rested.
However, Morton, who is on loan from West Bromwich Albion, is close to making his return to action, according to the Imps boss.
He said: “We are hopeful that we might see him involved against Crewe [March 6]. If not, then Ipswich [March 9]”
Appleton also confirmed that January signing Max Sanders is a doubt for the trip to Devon after picking up a hamstring injury.
Trip to Plymouth
Lincoln travel to the Plymouth for the second time this season, having already faced the Pilgrims in the FA Cup. Despite a 2-0 defeat, Appleton described the performance as one of the ‘top ten performances of the season.’
“I thought we were brilliant in the FA Cup if I’m being honest,” the Imps boss expressed.
“Apart from score, I thought the performance at Home Park was one of our top ten performances of the season. I’ll take right now, though, a lesser performance and the three points!”