Blackpool shape up well for Terry McPhillips with new formation

Terry McPhillips says he is excited by the potential of the new formation Blackpool used at Southend United.
Terry McPhillips is pleased his Blackpool side can switch personnel and systemsTerry McPhillips is pleased his Blackpool side can switch personnel and systems
Terry McPhillips is pleased his Blackpool side can switch personnel and systems
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Oliver Turton targets more goals for Blackpool

And it paid dividends, with the Seasiders claiming a 2-1 win and Turton scoring the opening goal.

“We’ve practised it and it was good,” McPhillips said.

“When you’ve got Ollie and Marc as wing-backs it makes sense because they like to attack. Ollie has scored and Marc created one.”

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They weren’t the only two to impress the manager in the south-east. He added: “Ben Heneghan has done really well, Donervon Daniels has come back and together the back three looked a colossus.

“The goalkeeper (Mark Howard) is back as well and that’s terrific.

“The shape and the system is exciting and the lads were keen to do it.

“We’ve used it and we got the win. I think we’ll use it again when appropriate.

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“We practised it in training but we haven’t done it for a few weeks because it’s just been game after game after game. But they’re not daft, they know.

“We practised it and it did look good. We thought we were going to go for it and it was just a matter of when.

“It was the appropriate day and we’ve done well. We’ve won the game but I think there’s scope for improvement.”

Saturday’s win finally brought an end to Pool’s recent long trips.

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They travelled to Arsenal, Gillingham, Exeter City and most recently Southend in the space of 18 days.

The only one of those games Blackpool failed to win was at Arsenal, and even then they took the Gunners all the way in the Carabao Cup.

“Arsenal were lucky. We had them on the rack,” McPhillips joked. “But it’s great credit to the players for all the miles they have clocked up.

“We’ve rotated the squad a little bit, and it’s fair to say we picked what we thought was the best team to win each game and we have.

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“So I’m really delighted for the group, all of the players and staff. I thought the fans were brilliant as well.

“We now look forward to travelling a bit less in the next couple of weeks.”

Blackpool used Barnet’s training facilities last Friday to prepare for the game at Roots Hall and McPhillips believes the difference in quality had an impact.

The Pool boss added: “Thanks to Barnet. Gary Brabin (Blackpool’s assistant manager) knows (Barnet boss) John Still there and the pitch was fantastic.

“The standard of the training was outstanding and that’s because we were on a nice pitch.”