Garry Monk felt his Cambridge side did not show enough fight as their dismal start to the season continued on Saturday.
The U’s have picked up just one point from their seven games so far and already sit six points from safety as one of two winless sides in Sky Bet League One.
Lincoln climbed to third with their fourth victory of the season, their 2-0 success coming courtesy of substitutes Freddie Draper and Bailey Cadameteri. Both strikes were the respective forwards’ first goals of the campaign.
“The second half was probably as poor as it’s been,” said Monk afterwards.
“When you’ve got adversity and you’re in situations like this where you’re not winning games, you need really strong character and personality to come out the other side of it.
“We’re facing a lot of adversity. I didn’t see enough of that personality today. It’s the first time I’ve not seen enough in terms of responding.
“I’ve been in the game long enough. Your duty is to work hard, take what’s coming at you and you’re either going to fight or you’re going to flight. My mentality’s always been to fight.
“I think they are fighting but that confidence is a little bit lower than what it should be. There’s only one way out of it, that’s to show huge character and personality.
“I think we’ve done that in a lot of the games, but probably this game was one where we were far enough away from that, compared to what we’ve seen before.
“They do a lot of good work on the training ground, but transferring it here in the heat of the battle when you really need that character is going to be the biggest test for us.
Lincoln assistant boss Tom Shaw took on the media duties following their victory.
“There were some lovely traits within our group today to win away from home,” said Shaw.
“It was not far off a complete away performance. We’re delighted. Delighted with the starters, delighted with the boys that came on and contributed. It was just a really positive week at the football club and we got our rewards today.
“The club have supported us in having a bit more depth in all areas, but definitely in the front line. You want to get everybody firing. Freddie is probably one of the best target men in the lower divisions, already at this age. He’s just got to master his craft, which he’s working on a lot.
“Then we’re delighted for Bailey Cadameteri. His first touch was superb, then perhaps a bit of a scruffy finish. I’m really pleased for the front line and we want them to contribute for the next period of time.”
