Jay Spearing admits Blackpool are going through a sticky patch ahead of Tranmere Rovers trip

It comes after back-to-back defeats for the Seasiders, having lost consecutive home games 1-0 to Shrewsbury Town and Accrington Stanley.

It has put a stop to Pool’s momentum and seen them drop out of the play-off spots ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Tranmere Rovers.

“These are two big games we’ve let slip away from ourselves when we could have really shown an intent in this league and put us where we want to be,” Spearing said.

“It’s now time for us to step up as men and show what we’re about.

“We haven’t gone into these games wanting to lose them, we’ve done what we can.

“Okay, the performances might not have been as good as they have been previously but we were still out there grafting.

“We’ve got to start kicking on again. We’re not too far off the play-off spots but we’ve got to start turning these results around now.”

Pool enjoyed bright starts to both games, yet were unable to capitalise upon their periods of domination.

“In those periods where we’re on top we need to either get ourselves a goal or prolong those periods,” the midfielder added.

“For 15 or 20 minutes we were on top and caused them a lot of problems, but we just couldn’t manage to put the ball in the back of the net.

“That goes back to not being clinical, but we’ll keep working. We know we’re grown men and we know it’s a sticky patch.

“We need to look ourselves in the mirror and kick on. We can’t dwell on it for too long because we’ve got another game on Sunday.”

The short trip to Tranmere is the first of four away games coming up for the Seasiders; three coming in the league and one at Reading in the FA Cup.

“I don’t think it matters if we’re at home or away, we need to impact our game and improve our game,” Spearing said.

“We’ve lost the last two games which shows we’re having a bit of a sticky patch.

“We have played well in parts of the games but it’s got to be prolonged.

“We’ve got four away games now which gives us a chance to pick up some points on the road and show what we can do in this league and the cup as well.”