Appleton aims to improve Lincoln’s defence after opening his account with defeat

Posted Saturday, September 28, 2019 by PA

New Lincoln manager Michael Appleton has urged his side to tighten up at the back after his first game in charge ended in a 2-1 defeat to Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.

Appleton, who replaced Danny Cowley after his departure for Huddersfield, watched on as Lincoln were hammered 6-0 by Oxford last weekend.

Those defensive frailties were exposed early on by the Seasiders, who struck twice in the opening 21 minutes.

Sean Scannell lashed the ball into the roof of the net before Jordan Thompson produced a fine individual goal to double the lead.

Jack Payne hit back three minutes later for the Imps, but Tyler Walker and Jason Shackell both missed big chances as Lincoln’s winless run extended to five league games.

Appleton was delighted with the response of his side to going behind, but is determined to make Lincoln more resilient defensively.

“It’s something that we’ve spoken about in the week, staying in games,” Appleton said.

“And we did that. But we need to get through a spell at this moment in time and get to a stage where, when the opposition are on top and creating opportunities, we somehow find a way to keep them out.

“Because for large parts of the game we were reasonably comfortable.

“Apart from that, I thought the goal was coming for us. We had seen that period out, they had made an important start to the game.

“We need to make sure that we can try and score the first goal. If we don’t, don’t allow the opposition to go and get the second one like they did.

“But more importantly, the way they reacted and stuck at it, they did it in a positive manner.”

Blackpool manager Simon Grayson was delighted with his side’s ability to show attacking flair to take the lead and resolve to hold on to it.

“We have spoken over the last few weeks that we have not had enough creativity and guile in the final third to break teams down that come here to make it difficult,” Grayson said.

“We want to get the right balance – to keep clean sheets but also make sure players are expressing themselves and creating more opportunities to score goals and assist goals.

“You have to do both sides of the game to win matches.

“Jak (Alnwick) has hardly had a save to make. We managed the game well and you have to do whatever you need to do to go and win the game at times and we have done that today.”