“We’ll see if we can react the right way”: Blackpool look to bounce back from their heavy weekend defeat
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Blackpool are back at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday after defeat last weekend.
Ian Evatt wants to see the right reaction from his Blackpool players as they look to bounce back in league and cup this week.
The Seasiders host Aston Villa’s U21s in their final Jersey Mike’s Trophy group stage game tonight (7pm) before making the trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday (2pm).
Tuesday’s game is the last in a run of three consecutive games at Bloomfield Road, with last midweek’s win over MK Dons followed by Saturday’s heavy defeat to Mansfield Town.
That dropped Blackpool back to 20th in League One, one point clear of the drop zone after a quarter of the season.
Asked how much pressure he feels under given that position, Evatt replied: “It’s hard. The expectations of the fanbase, the expectations of the club and the expectations of my own are a lot higher than we’re producing at the moment.
“That’s the bottom line. Do I think I’m the right man for the job? Absolutely.
“I have a huge amount of confidence in my ability, you’ve just got to look at my managerial record.
“The issue is that we’ve got to resolve it and we’ve got to resolve it quickly because, at the minute, it’s just too inconsistent.
“It doesn’t get any easier this league. It’s constant and it comes at you fast.
“You have to react the right way and we’ll see if we can react the right way on Tuesday; starting with that and then we’ll get ready for Sheffield Wednesday.”
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Tonight is the second time in three seasons that the Seasiders have met Villa’s youngsters in the Trophy.
Their previous meeting came in December 2024, when Villa won 18-17 on penalties in round two after a 1-1 draw on the Fylde coast.
Blackpool need a win to have any chance of progressing from Group B after losing to Wigan Athletic and beating Crewe Alexandra on penalties in their first two games.
That leaves them third on two points, two behind Crewe whose final game against group leaders Wigan is in a fortnight’s time.
Villa, for their part, have lost both of their games so far: 3-2 at Wigan and 4-1 at Crewe.