Appleton won’t let late heartbreak overshadow Lincoln’s performance

Michael Appleton said he will try and focus on the positives rather than the last-minute heartbreak after MK Dons’ last-minute winner against his Lincoln City side.

Leading 2-0 after eight minutes, the Imps would see that lead evaporate in the second half, when Scott Twine and Matt O’Riley drew Dons level, before Twine netted in the last minute to secure the points for Liam Manning’s men.

Lincoln, who have only won twice at home all season, are teetering dangerously above the League One drop zone and take on Rotherham next, while Dons’ win sees them climb back to seventh in the table.

Appleton said while his players will need picking up after the heartbreak against Dons, he is eager to point out the good they did during the game.

“There’s big, big disappointment. The players are flat in the dressing room. We’ve got to make sure we find a way of picking them up for the Rotherham game,” said Appleton.

“There’s a lot that people will forget about today because of what happened at the end. It just probably shows where we’re at. We’ve conceded a winner in the 90-odd minute, it’s deflating because there were a lot of positives. Some of our attacking play was excellent.

“We just didn’t make them work hard enough for the goals they scored. The players will be absolutely kicking themselves, like I am, about the goals we conceded.

“Ultimately you can take pressure off yourselves and your defenders if you put your chances away. We’ve missed two or three incredible opportunities to go 3-1 ahead and that’s what’s hurt us in the end.

“You’ve got to believe that eventually things will turn and change.”