Lincoln manager Michael Appleton reflected on an excellent all-round display after watching his side get back to winning ways in League One with a 3-0 victory over Crewe.

After successive defeats to Plymouth and Fleetwood, the Imps were too strong for David Artell’s side.

All the goals were well worked with Morgan Rogers opening the scoring in the 21st minute.

Conor McGrandles added the second seven minutes into the second half while man-of-the-match Brennan Johnson scored a stunning third 10 minutes from time.

“The performance overall was good. It wasn’t just a victory and finding a way of getting that victory,” said Appleton.

“Some of the goals were fantastic and some of the chances we created with the build-up were very good.

“Out of possession, we looked strong, resolute and hard to beat. If you get that, you give yourself a hell of a chance.

“And to keep a clean sheet against a side which can be quite dangerous is pleasing.”

It had been a month since Lincoln had scored the first goal in a league game but that changed when Rogers stroked home from the edge of the box.

“As a group, if we do get that first goal, we are dangerous,” added Appleton.

“We can defend behind the ball at times, defend a little bit deeper which allows us to hit teams on the counter-attack.”

The performance was a vast improvement on Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat to Fleetwood.

Asked what he had done between the two games, Appleton said: “Just keeping morale high. We had two really good training sessions on Thursdays and Friday with a couple of lads who haven’t had many sessions and needed minutes.

“We’ve worked on a lot around the edge of the box because the stats tell us that, out of League One, we create more genuine, quality chances than anyone else.

“Yet the ratio tells us that we don’t finish them off enough. We’ve worked really, really hard, we’re getting there, and today we’ve had a bit of a reward.”

In contrast, Artell criticised his side’s display.

“The first thing to say is well done to Lincoln, they were very, very good, take nothing away from them,” he said.

“However, I thought our performance was abject. If you’ve got eight, nine maybe including the subs, abject performances, you’re going to lose the game and you’re probably going to lose it quite heavily.

“We can make excuses about the number of games, knocks and niggles and all the rest of it.

“The fact of the matter is, we’ve got to be better than what we showed today. It’s not like us.

“You can’t get beaten like we did today. It was abject at times. Yes, we tried to play football, but didn’t. We played without thinking.

“We didn’t try anything, there was no real thought to our play. That’s another disappointing thing.”