Lincoln boss Michael Appleton says Sunderland have shown their 'character' in recent weeks, ahead of tomorrow's meeting between the sides at Sincil Bank. The Black Cats take on the Imps looking to extend their five-game unbeaten run and take another step towards securing a play-off place.
Last season Sunderland's promotion chances ended with a play-off semi-final defeat over two legs against Lincoln, but there is no chance of another play-off meeting this term with Appleton's 18th-placed side closer to the relegation zone than the top six. Sunderland's recent run has included a number of late goals, with a last-minute leveller against Burton, two goals in the final ten minutes helping them come from behind to beat Fleetwood 3-1, and then scoring two goals in the last five minutes to see off Crewe last weekend.
"They've showed really good character over the last five or six games, they win games late on," Appleton told LincolnshireLive. "After that 65-70-minute, they've started to score regularly.
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"They’ve been behind in a few games, so they've obviously got a good spirit [to come back]."
Sunderland go into the game looking to notch a third successive league win for the first time since September - and only the second time this season. As for Lincoln, they have lost five of their last seven games, with their most recent outing ending in defeat at League One leaders Rotherham United in midweek.
The Millers scored twice in the opening quarter-hour on Tuesday, but Lincoln improved in the second half and scored a late consolation goal through Tom Hopper, with Appleton saying they will need to perform against Sunderland as they did in the second period against Rotherham if they are to have a chance of winning this weekend. "It's a great game and everyone's looking forward to it, said Appleton, whose side won 3-1 on Wearside in January, when former Sunderland man Chris Maguire scored a hat-trick.
"From an atmosphere point of view, it will be like that Sheffield Wednesday game [which Lincoln won 3-1 earlier in March]. They'll bring a lot of fans down from the North-East and they've got a newish manager in Alex [Neil].
"They massively need to points to keep themselves in the play-off positions. We’ve got to dust ourselves down and try and reproduce something similar to the second half [against Rotherham].
"If we do that, we'll give ourselves a chance."
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