Former Lincoln boss Michael Appleton conceded his Charlton side were second best as his return to Sincil Bank ended with his first defeat in eight games in charge of the Addicks, as the Imps won 3-1.
And it was a player who was effectively snubbed by Appleton during his Imps tenure who did most to spoil his night, Hakeeb Adelakun scoring twice with Sean Roughan also on target as City fought back from going behind early to an Alfie May goal to win their second game in succession under interim boss Tom Shaw.
“We were short tonight on everything we’ve been good at,” said Appleton.
“We just didn’t give ourselves a chance, there wasn’t enough duels where we came out on top. Against a physical side like Lincoln, there’s only one scenario that’s going to happen when it’s like that.
“We were not brave enough in the second period of the first half and we were wasting so many goal kicks that were just going to their centre-halves and coming straight back.
“There were a lot of errors in short spells, which created a lot of momentum for Lincoln. It was just one of those nights when we were not aggressive enough, not positive enough.
“There have been lots of lessons learned. Nights like these stop lots of people getting carried away.”
Charlton took a 10th-minute lead when Tyreece Campbell raced on to a through-ball down the left and crossed for the diving May to bundle in from close range.
The Imps were level just after the half-hour mark when Lasse Sorensen fed Jack Burroughs and his cross reached Adelakun, who controlled expertly before swivelling and smashing the ball past Ashley Maynard-Brewer.
Sorensen then delivered a pinpoint cross to Adelakun to stab the ball home from close range and put Lincoln ahead after 57 minutes.
Roughan sealed the win 20 minutes later, the Irish defender firing home after finding himself through on goal.
“We’ve given the players a lot of information in the past week – we have tried to affect their confidence and mindset,” said Shaw, who has now guided the Imps to within two points of the play-off zone. “I thought the players executed the gameplay phenomenally well.
“It was a very pleasing night. The players went to the edge on Saturday and the challenge was can you do it again, physically and mentally? I think we went even more, to be honest. The physical output was outrageous.
“We asked them, ‘can you take the roof off this place?’ And I think some of the stuff, with and without the ball, gave the supporters something to get behind.”
On two-goal hero Adelakun, he added: “He is a great bloke and is full of class. I thought he was sparkling and caused real problems. He was brilliant tonight.”
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