Opposition view: Appleton baffled by lack of 'blatant red card' for Korboa during Lincoln's big win over Cobblers

Lincoln City manager Michael Appleton was baffled by the decision not to send off Ricky Korboa for a 'blatant red card' during his side's 4-0 victory over Northampton on Saturday.

Korboa was accused of elbowing Lewis Monstma in the second-half of Saturday's game at the PTS, with the Lincoln defender needing lengthy treatment before eventually carrying on.

"If there's ever such a thing as a blatant red card, that's it," said Appleton. "The frustrating thing for us is that I'm stood next to the fourth official and I can see it coming just before it's about to happen.

"The referee is about 10 yards away from the incident and he's looking right at it but he doesn't do anything. I was frustrated in the first-half as well for booking Lewis for pulling their lad down when it was actually the other way around, but for him (Korboa) to get away with that is disappointing."

Nonetheless, Appleton was delighted with his side's performance as they moved level on points with League One leaders Portsmouth.

"It was a good performance but a different performance to what you would usually want because we had to pick our moments when to play and when not to play," he added.

"We had to play conditions. In the first-half the wind was right down our throat and the pitch wasn't conducive to taking too many risks on but I thought it was a real controlled performance and it was important to keep a clean sheet after the last two games.

"The pleasing thing is that we were prepared to run away from the ball. I felt we were unlucky not to win on Tuesday with the amount of territory we had and the chances we created but we were clinical today.

"It obviously helped to score in the first few minutes because it got us off to a good start and gave us a platform and the second goal was important to go 2-0 up at half-time. We dominated the right areas of the pitch in the first-half and again in the second and we deserved to win the game."