Michael Appleton says his side are 'more than capable' of beating Sunderland in their League One play-off semi-final this week.
The Lincoln City boss also believes that his side don't necessarily need a win at Sincil Bank this evening, with the Imps boasting an impressive away record.
The Black Cats are unbeaten against Appleton's side this season, winning one and drawing two of those games in regular time.
The Imps boss has a clear message ahead of tonight's game. When asked if Lincoln need to take a lead to the Stadium of Light, Appleton told Lincolnshire Live : “Not necessarily, but I want to win both games, that’s the idea.
“That has to be our attitude, to try and win both games, so you don’t have to worry about leads.
“I know we’re capable of it. We’ve not been capable so far. We’ve played them three times, lost one, drew two.
“In the two games we drew at their place, we were more than capable of winning those games.
“I thought we finished strongly in the league game recently. So there’s a belief within the camp that we can beat them.”
There'll be around 3,000 fans at Sincil Bank this evening and Appleton is relishing playing in front of a crowd.
He said: “Great, brilliant, it’s a shame it’s not 10,000 but we’ve got to start somewhere.
“It will probably feel like 10,000 because we’ve missed them that much. The anticipation of fans being here...
“You miss that bit of a knot feeling in your stomach that you sometimes get when you can feel the anticipation of the fans being here.
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
