Although heavy rain throughout the entire 90 minutes made life difficult for both sides, manager Charlie Palmer was impressed with the work ethic of his team

“The pitch held up but the wet conditions made it difficult

“People who have been watching our games recently know that I want us to play football but in a game like that you can only play football in right areas.

“We showed some threat with Rob Stevenson(pictured). He caused them problems non-stop when we got the ball out to him.

“It would have obviously been nice for him to score or create one to give us the three points but I have got to be impressed with the clean sheet.”

Palmer felt a draw was a fair result as both teams struggled to create chances.

“I said to my players before the game it is not going to be a free flowing game.

“It was going to be about which group of players roll their sleeves up and put a shift in.

“Work ethic was always going to be essential and after the first 10-15 minutes I think my players recognised what I said and took it onboard.

“It was always going to be a tight game not one where you play your pretty football, we dug deep and created some chances but Lincoln always looked dangerous from set-pieces and a draw was a fair result.”

Despite the draw, Belper remain unbeaten in their last three games and travel to Kidsgrove on Saturday.

“We have had two good wins on the bounce and obviously everyone was expecting another win.

“We were playing a decent team and they have brought a couple of players in, so we knew they would play some good football and that it was always going to be a challenge in those conditions.”