Lincoln City boss hits out at key early decision following Sunderland's emphatic win

The Black Cats took the lead after a frenetic start to the game when Jack Diamond was judged to have been fouled in the box.

Grant Leadbitter stepped up to give Sunderland the lead and from there they never looked back, with Charlie Wyke and Diamond himself extending the lead before half time.

“What we have to do, when we concede a goal, is not get too disappointed,” said Appleton.

"These things happen. It clearly wasn’t a penalty, but there’s nothing we can do about that and we’ve got to deal with it and stay in the game.

"If you go down 1-0 at half-time, maybe even 2-0, at least you’ve got an opportunity to put them under a bit of pressure.

“It was a poor one,” he said of the penalty decision. “The whistle went to his mouth virtually before the lad had hit the ground, which suggests he was confident.

“But you could tell he wasn’t confident because after the reaction of our players he knew he’d made a mistake.

“It was doubly disappointing because we’d had two incredible opportunities (through Brennan Johnson) before that. A bit of frustration then kicked in."

Sunderland had complete control of the second half with Wyke doubling his tally, but Appleton was loathed to criticise his team for their lack of threat through the second period.

“The second half was a non-entity from my point of view,” Appleton said.

“It’s difficult coming back from 3-0 down against any side at our level, but when you’re trying to get back from 3-0 against a side as experienced as they are, it’s even more difficult.

“For me, it was about making sure our attitude stayed good and that we stayed as competitive as possible.

“When you’re 3-0 up and you’ve got their experience, it’s easy. A 0-0 it’s a little bit different, there’s more anxiety and pressure on what you do.

“I’m not going to be too harsh on the players from a second half point of view. The game was gone by that point. That’s not me being negative, that’s a fact.”

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