Blackpool not creative enough, says keeper Slocombe

Saturday’s goalless draw at Cambridge means that Gary Bowyer’s men go into tonight’s FA Cup third round replay at Barnsley having scored only twice in their last seven games – a run that has seen them fail to hit the net in their last three League Two matches.

And Slocombe, who made a crucial late penalty save to hand his side a point at Abbey Stadium, says Blackpool need to create more chances if they are to give themselves a shot at finishing in the play-offs.

The Pool number one said: “Maybe we need to test the goalkeeper a bit more than we have and not just in this fixture – that was a culmination of games we’ve played recently.

“That’s not necessarily just aimed at the strikers either – that’s the whole team.

“We’re getting in good areas but we need to start converting those good areas into chances for the strikers.”

Despite their poor recent form in front of goal, Bowyer’s men are now keeping goals out at the other end – the clean sheet at Cambridge was their fourth in a row on the road.

Slocombe added: “The clean sheets are good for the team, not just the defence. It starts from the front, and if the front don’t do it that makes it very difficult for the rest of the team.

“As a team, it was quite a good all-round performance defensively. But the first half definitely wasn’t good enough.”

Ten-man Pool had to dig deep in the final 15 minutes after Tom Aldred was shown a straight red for his foul on Conor Newton which resulted in the penalty.

Aldred’s red card has been rescinded and he will be available for tonight’s replay at Oakwell.

But Slocombe admitted the Seasiders’ display hadn’t been good enough up to that point.

He said: “It’s a great point given the performance we put in. No-one in that dressing room is stupid enough to think that was a good enough performance, especially in the first half.

“It wasn’t up to the standard we normally set ourselves and we know that.

“Sometimes performances like this happen, especially after a build-up of fixtures, so to come away with a point is good but that’s the only real positive we can take.”