50 points won't be enough, says Blackpool man

Jim McAlister feels Blackpool must win today's vital clash with Colchester, and require more than 50 points to avoid the drop.
Blackpool's Jim McAlisterBlackpool's Jim McAlister
Blackpool's Jim McAlister

For large spells of the season people have spoken about 50 being the magic number in terms of securing a place in League One for next season.

But unbeaten runs for Blackpool, Fleetwood and Oldham has seen that tally rise, something McAlister says the Pool squad are more than aware of.

“I think we need more than 50 points now,” he said.

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“About Christmas time we were aiming at the 50 points mark now, but I think it will be more. It just shows how competitive this league is by the fact you need that many to stay up.

“It would be right up there with the biggest achievements in my career. The last thing this club needs is back-to-back relegations, it’s really important we stay up.

“The club needs to stabilise at this level then once that happens we can start looking back up.”

Despite being ten points behind Pool in the League One table, Colchester arrive at Bloomfield Road today on a good run of their own.

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They have won two of the last three and have not conceded a goal in more than four hours of football as Kevin Keen’s side keep the faintest of hopes of survival alive.

A defeat to Blackpool today would end that, something which is clear in the Pool squad’s minds. McAlister said: “We have to win but Colchester have to be come and beat us too. We can maybe put a wee nail in their coffin points wise if we win.

“The boys have been brilliant with the pressure so far, we’ve needed points in the last four games.”

Blackpool are unbeaten in four since defeat at Oldham left them looking dead and buried last month.

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Three wins, and a draw against Bury, lifted Pool out of the drop zone, although all of the teams around them have at least one game in hand.

Despite that, McAlister believes the spirit remains high in the Pool camp.

“The mood has changed and that comes with results,” he said.

“Many of us thought we hit a low at Oldham, it was a hard one to take to be honest.

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“It says a lot about the dressing room the way we’ve reacted, we’ve picked up some great points and hopefully we can continue that.”

Blackpool’s win against Southend last weekend lifted them four points from trouble only for Fleetwood and Oldham to pick up maximum points in the week.

And Pool’s players are now intent on ignoring what’s going on elsewhere.

“We can’t sit and hope the other teams are going to drop points,” said the Scottish midfielder.

“We need to have it in our heads the other teams will win their games in hand.

“We need to focus on winning our games and that starts today with a team below us in the table.”