Michael Appleton delivers verdict on his Lincoln City side and 'worldie' Sunderland performer

Callum Morton's second-half goal earned a point for the visitors, with Burge making fine saves from Regan Poole, Cohen Bramall and Morgan Rogers through the course of the game.

Lincoln had come into the game having been beaten 3-0 by Gillingham in midweek, but Appleton insisted that scoreline had not reflected the performance of his side.

They caused Sunderland problems throughout on Saturday afternoon, with Lee Johnson stating afterwards that they could not be ruled out of the race for automatic promotion.

"I thought we were good first half and very good second half," Appleton said.

"All the big chances in the game were for us.

“Burge, in goal, has had a bit of a worldie again to frustrate us. For us to show the courage we did in that second half after going down with one lapse of concentration, probably says something about the spirit we’ve got in the group.

I genuinely think the performance was there on Tuesday night,” he added.

“I know that sounds stupid to people but if you had the opportunity to watch it back, you’d understand what I was saying.

“Today we got the reward for that. We passed the ball well and were really aggressive out of possession. We pressed the life out of them, especially in that first half.

“When the game was getting longer, I felt there was only going to be one winner – and I think they [Sunderland] did as well.

“You can tell sometimes when the opposition are on the ropes. Once we got the equaliser, it was only going to be a matter of time.

“Unfortunately the keeper has come up with some good saves.”

Both sides benefited from results elsewhere in the division, with no side in the top six winning.

Hull City and Peteborough United were both held to draws by sides currently in the bottom half of the table, leabing the gap to the top two at just two points for the Black Cats.

Lincoln remain two points further back, having played a game more than Sunderland.