City head coach Michael Skubala believed his side deserved to take something from Saturday's game at Wycombe Wanderers after a superb second half performance.
The Imps found themselves two goals down at the break to two Sam Bell strikes but fought back in the second period to deservedly level thanks to goals from substitutes Justin Obikwu and Freddie Draper.
City looked the most likely to go on and win it, but were hit with a late sucker punch when Jack Grimmer scrambled the ball home from a corner late on.
Skubala said: “We thought we did enough to get something out of the game in the second half. We looked really threatening and had them on the ropes, especially when we equalised, so to concede so late and leave with nothing was hugely disappointing.
“In the end it looked like there was only going to be one team that would go on and win it, so that is the main frustration for us.
“We’d have taken a 2-2 from the position we were in - of course we would - but I actually thought we were going to go on and win it, we had some big moments too.
“What I liked about us in the second half is that we created chances, we played on the frontfoot and were aggressive. I felt we did enough to get something from the game, so it was tough to take at the end.”
Skubala introduced Reeco Hackett, Draper and Obikwu in the second period, as well as the returning Jack Moylan.
The head coach felt that all of his second half additions made an impact on the contest, but reserved special praise for Moylan.
He added: “Jack was fantastic. He has a great mentality because he’s brave. He wants to get on the ball and make things happen.
“This is what I love about him, he has fantastic energy. He’s building his minutes back up, and we put him on a little bit earlier than planned, but fair play to him, he really impacted the game.
“I thought all of the subs were brilliant, when you make changes you want them to come on and have an impact on the game and they did that.
“Reeco was very lively when he came on and of course the two forwards got their goals as well.”
Hackett echoed the thoughts of the head coach following the loss, reiterating that there was belief in the side that they would go on to win after drawing level.
He said: "It was massively disappointing not to get anything from the game after such a good fightback in the second half.
"The Gaffer made some changes at half time and I think we implemented what he wanted us to do and we showed great character to get ourselves back into it.
"When we got it back to 2-2, we all thought we could go on and win the game, so to lose it was tough to take.
"We're still in a good position and have a really strong squad with plenty of competition for places. We know we're a good team and have the ability to go toe-to-toe with anyone in the division."
