Lincoln striker Walker earns manager praise after brace sees off Sunderland

Michael Appleton praised Tyler Walker’s “personality” after the striker’s brace sealed his first win as Lincoln manager.

The on-loan Nottingham Forest man scored both goals as the Imps overcame Sunderland with a 2-0 Sky Bet League One victory at a packed Sincil Bank.

Walker opened the scoring after 17 minutes after nipping in front of goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin following Neal Eardley’s ball in from the right.

The Imps’ leading scorer missed a penalty early in the second half, with his spot-kick hitting the inside of the post.

However, five minutes later he was celebrating again when he turned home Bruno Andrade’s pinpoint cross.

“It had a little bit of everything, didn’t it? Keeping a clean sheet was key against a side who tend to score in most games and are in good form,” said Appleton after his third game in charge.

“It was pleasing to score two very good goals. I know they were both from crosses, but they were different goals.

“The first was a poacher’s one, then there was a lot of quality for the second goal. Great composure from Jack (Payne) to find Bruno, who produced a great ball in and Tyler made up the ground to get into the box.

“He had the personality to do that after not scoring the penalty.

“It would have been quite easy for him not to get in there and feel sorry for himself. But he didn’t, he dusted himself down, got on with it and got his rewards.”

It was the Imps’ first win since the 2-0 success over Fleetwood under previous manager Danny Cowley at the end of August.

Sunderland boss Jack Ross, who faced calls to be sacked by Black Cats fans after the game, was scathing about his side’s performance.

“It is not just about not playing well in possession, it is about doing the fundamentals of the game right, which is work hard, be physical, be competitive. We got absolutely what we deserved from the game,” said Ross.

On the Imps’ early pressure, he added: “That will often be the case when we come away from home but we have had a lot of experience of that over the last 15 months or so.

“You have to be strong enough to stand up to that, we didn’t do that and then didn’t react to going behind.

“I accept any time we don’t win a game, we have been criticised and I have sometimes been defensive of that and I have been justified.

“But today, any criticism of me or the team, we deserve that. That is nowhere near good enough, not just for Sunderland, for any football team.

“I have managed lot of games now, I have not had many of them in terms of seeing a team so far away from what you need to be to win games.”