Lee Johnson hopes Sunderland fans can begin to believe following their side’s impressive 4-0 victory at Lincoln

The Black Cats secured their first league win under Johnson against the high-flying Imps at the LNER Stadium.

Grant Leadbitter’s penalty after 16 minutes gave put Sunderland ahead, with Charlie Wyke and Jack Diamond adding further goals before half-time.

Wyke grabbed his second goal with 18 minutes left during a largely uneventful second half.

“That’s the standard, on and off the ball, and in terms of the performance that was a very important win I feel,” said Johnson.

“It allows the players to believe, it allows the fans to believe, and what I’m really impressed with was just how well the lads have understood the protocol – I’ve fired in a lot of terminology and detail, but they have really taken it in.

“I thought today, the compactness in possession and out of possession, gave us the strength to break down what is a very good side.

“That’s the tempo and the template. There’s mega-bucks of work to do, and one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but that’s now two results (including the win at Oldham in the Papa John’s Trophy) and two improved performances with just three or four coaching sessions.

“My challenge now is to make sure I don’t tactically fatigue the boys and don’t bamboozle them. We just need to keep the consistency.

“If we keep that consistency in this division for the rest of the season, we will be successful.

“We’ve obviously given the others a bit of a head start, but if we play like that consistently, we won’t go far wrong. We’ve just got to rest and recover now, and go into the game on Tuesday (at home to AFC Wimbledon) with the same mentality.”

Michael Appleton admitted his Lincoln players struggled to get over the perceived injustice of Sunderland’s penalty.

Appleton and his players were left fuming by the decision but the Imps boss conceded his young side need to react better to such decisions in the future.

“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.”

Appleton, who is normally so calm on the touchline, was spoken to by referee Charles Breakspear after contesting the decision.

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

“But you could tell he was not confident because after the reaction of 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.”

Appleton added: “The second half was a non-entity from my point of view.

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

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

“It’s very difficult because when you’re 3-0 up and you’ve got their experience, it’s easy.

“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.”