He answered our questions afterwards honestly and politely, but inside Mark McGhee must have been seething.

A limp FA Cup exit against a team showing far more appetite will surely only hasten the Scot's search for signings.

Now that Albion return to League action I expect McGhee to bring in a couple of new faces for Saturday's home game against Bristol City.

The side urgently needs freshening up. The opponents had a Bloomer on the scoresheet but the Seagulls resembled a stale loaf.

They were outmuscled and outmanoeuvered as Lincoln recorded a comprehensive sixth home win in succession.

It wasn't quite on a par with those FA Cup humiliations in the Nineties against Kingstonian, Sudbury and Hereford, but to lose so convincingly to a team from the division below was disturbing.

McGhee admitted: "We lost to a better team on the day.

"They did things simply, turned us around and got at us. They were a yard ahead of us in the first half and consequently were goals ahead at half time.

"They deserved their victory. There was a lot about my team which I was disappointed with but equally a lot to work on."

One of McGhee's main causes for complaint was the way Albion were overpowered in the opening 45 minutes.

"They (Lincoln) are a bigger side than us but I think we were a little bit intimidated," he said.

Another was a lack of width on a disappointing afternoon for different reasons for Nathan Jones and Gary Hart.

"We play 4-4-2 and yet sometimes we just seem to forget we have wingers," McGhee remarked. "We don't look to get the ball wide with any real purpose.

"That is obviously an area I have got to work at. The wingers need the ball. I took Jones off because he didn't look to me as if he was at it, but he was never really given the ball."

Too many players are below-par at the moment for Albion to start winning again and they could do without compounding their plight through indiscipline. Hart was needlessly cautioned for kicking the ball away when an offside decision went against Albion with 18 minutes left.

The right winger's fifth yellow card of the campaign rules him out of the next away match at Notts County and Leon Knight is on the brink of a ban as well following a booking for a late tackle.

A lot of the decisions by ref Nigel Miller went against Albion, although McGhee was quick to point out his team did not lose because of them.

The spirit seemed to be missing for once after Lincoln controversially took the lead via a 13th minute penalty.

Jostling at corners is common place and Miller must have been one of the few people in the ground to spot Guy Butters impeding Ben Futcher. Paul Mayo beat Michel Kuipers from the resulting spot-kick and that set the tone.

The deficit doubled eight minutes before the break when Matthew Bloomer, only playing due to Richard Liburd's illness, made the most of his opportunity.

The right wingback latched onto a cross from Francis Green and got the better of Jones to fire past Kuipers from an acute angle.

Any chance of a second half revival evaporated just before the hour when Kuipers spilled Mayo's corner in a crammed area. Simon Yeo, one of Lincoln's three strikers, swivelled to shoot home for the third match running as Kuipers protested he had been fouled.

Albion have two excellent keepers, but neither of them have been in prime form since McGhee took charge.

Ben Roberts, ruled out by a hamstring injury, blundered to present Boston with an equaliser in the LDV Vans Trophy at Withdean last week. Kuipers' error turned a retrieval mission into damage limitation.

At least they restored some pride in the final half-hour when Chris McPhee got his name on the scoresheet again.

John Piercy, Jones' replacement on the left side of midfield early in the second half, delivered a cross for McPhee to nod his third goal in two games, and seventh of the season, from close range, but it was far too little, far too late.

Lincoln chief Keith Alexander was justifiably proud of his side's performance. It was a seventh win out of eight for the Imps and only Peter Taylor's Hull have beaten them in their last 16 outings.

"We were on top from start to finish," said Alexander. "I thought we could have scored more.

"We are a good, footballing team. I don't think we can be accused of being a long ball side. The players have gelled together and we've been playing well over the last six or seven weeks."

It would be nice to think that by Christmas McGhee will be talking in the same terms but improvement is required for that to happen.

"Individual players who are already here have to play better, as well as me strengthening the squad," said McGhee.

"We have lost one game. It's not the end of the world, but there is a lot of hard work to be done."

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Kuipers (gk) 5; Hinshelwood (rb) 6, Cullip (cd) 6, Butters (cd) 6, Mayo (lb) 6, Hart (rm) 6, Pethick (cm) 6, Carpenter (cm) 6, Jones (lm) 5, Knight (f) 6, McPhee (f) 7. Subs: Keeley, Watson, Wilkinson for Pethick (withdrawn 84), Piercy 6 for Jones (withdrawn 57), El-Abd.
  • Scorers: McPhee (83).
  • Bookings: Pethick (7) unsporting behaviour, Hinshelwood (43) foul, Hart (72) unsporting behaviour, Knight (82) foul.
  • LINCOLN (3-4-3): Marriott; Weaver, Morgan, Futcher, Bloomer, Butcher, Gain, Mayo, Fletcher, Yeo, Green. Subs: Sedgemore, May for Yeo (withdrawn 80), Willis, McNamara for Green (withdrawn 77), Martin.
  • Scorers: Mayo (13) penalty, Bloomer (37), Yeo (59).
  • Bookings: Yeo (44) foul.
  • Half-Time: Lincoln 2 Albion 0.
  • Attendance:4,425.
  • Fan's View: Mick Morrow (Worthing).

It was bitterly cold and bitterly disappointing.

We were looking forward to a match that would warm our spirits but it just didn't happen.

Third Division Lincoln shamed us in every department, and while obviously I can't speak for everyone who made the journey north, personally I felt angry and let-down.

You can stomach a defeat when your side have put up a decent fight, but once again we lost to a side that just displayed more guts.

It's great that the Albion try to play neat football, but it's not easy to sustain when your basic skills desert you, both as a unit and individually.

When that happens, it's pure passion that wins you matches like this. Lincoln showed it, the Albion didn't, simple as that. Simple and a bit worrying.