JOHN Coleman said the fact that Accrington Stanley were disappointed to come away from League One leaders Lincoln City with just a point underlines how far the club has come in recent years.

It took a dramatic last-minute equaliser for Dion Charles to earn the Reds a share of the spoils at the LNER Stadium but Coleman said it was the least they deserved.

“We did more than enough to win the game,” said the Stanley boss.

“But we conceded two poor goals from our point of view. Lincoln are a top side and you’re not going to keep them quiet all night.

“We did well for most of the night and they’ve got exciting forwards who barely got into the game.

“But to concede from two headers when you’ve got the height and strength we’ve got and the way they’ve come about, sloppy defending from us. We gave the ball away cheaply.

“You’ve got to give our lads a lot of credit for the way they came back and got a point, which was the least we deserved, in my opinion.”

Charles had given Stanley an early lead following a howler from home keeper Alex Palmer.

Morgan Rogers equalised early in the second half and Tom Hopper put City in front for the first time in the 84th minute.

But Stanley grabbed a deserved point when Charles smashed home his second in the 90th minute.

Coleman added: “It shows you how far we’ve come when we’ve come to the league leaders, who’ve set the benchmark. And Lincoln are a good side, there’s no denying that. They’ll be there or thereabouts at the end of the season, but we’re disappointed coming here and not winning.

“We believe we can go anywhere and beat anybody.”

Former Rovers boss Michael Appleton, now in charge of the Imps, said: “I say it to the players all the time, if we can’t win against the sides that are up there with us, we certainly can’t lose the game.

“I thought they (Accrington) played their part in the game and did play well, but I thought it was more down to us.”