Michael Appleton was delighted with his sides performance as the Imps beat Sunderland 2-0 in front of a record seated crowd at Sincil Bank.
The City boss was over the moon to pick up three points and a clean sheet in his first home league game as Tyler Walker scored a brace.
“I was very pleased with lots of things today,” explained Appleton.
“The clean sheet pleased me and for the way the side reacted after Ty (Tyler Walker) missed the penalty in the way they did was fantastic.
"I thought we showed a lot of quality at times on the counter attack in the second half.
“There were moments in the second half where we got extra passes in, we won the ball back and linked the ball to Payney (Jack Payne) and Ty, which gave us a great opportunity.”
Tyler Walker opened the scoring for City getting on the end of Neal Eadley’s cross in the 17th minute. The Imps boss went on to praise his team for their efforts in the build-up to City’s opener.
“It was a great poachers goal, there was some great build-up play and it was great to see the attitude we had,” explained the 43-year-old.
“Ty has a lot of quality, but if you look at the ground he covered from when the ball went out to get in the box, then it was incredible.”
Appleton continued by discussing Walker’s second goal just before the hour mark: “He showed a great attitude throughout the whole game, especially after the penalty because for the way he dealt with it by getting another goal, was something I was really pleased with.”
The Imps boss finished by discussing the importance of his sides clean sheet in today’s game as they picked up their fifth set of three points this season.
“We knew Sunderland would be direct but we didn’t think they would be as direct as they were. I was talking to myself on the side line with five minutes to go hoping the lads kept a clean sheet and they worked hard to do that.
“The reality is that the more clean sheets you keep, the more chances you have to win games of football. Josh (Vickers) pulled off a fantastic save for us, he did it in the Blackpool game and he has done it again today. I have to give credit to the players for keeping their shape.”
The Imps are back on home soil in two week's time as we host Shrewsbury Town on Friday night. Click HERE to purchase tickets.
