Blackpool boss looks forward to meeting the league leaders

The Seasiders have yet to concede a league goal on their travels so far this season, but that record will be put to the test against a free-scoring Peterborough side this afternoon.

Steve Evans’ men, who have won seven of their opening nine league games, have scored an impressive 24 goals in League One, compared to Blackpool’s eight.

But McPhillips sees no reason why the Seasiders can’t come away from London Road with their fourth win of the season.

He said: “The last few games they’ve conceded a couple, but they obviously score a few – which is where we need to improve.

“But if we can get a clean sheet and get a goal or two, that would be great.

“I’m expecting an open, entertaining game with plenty of action.

“It will be a tough game, they’ve got some good players and they’re top of the league for a reason.

“That’s mainly because when they play, they score more goals than the opposition.

“That’s what we’ve got to try and do to them on Saturday.

“But we go there full of confidence from Tuesday and from the run we’re on. Let’s go and keep another clean sheet and nick another win.

“The four clean sheets away from home is magnificent really. If we can build on that and try and grab a goal or two, that’ll be great.”

Blackpool have already played the likes of QPR, Portsmouth and Barnsley this season in league and cup, but this afternoon’s test is likely to be their toughest of the season so far.

When asked if he believes that to be the case, McPhillips said: “We’ll have to see about that, but we know it’s going to be a really tough game. If it ends up being the toughest, we’ll see.

“But as I said, I think it’ll be an open game. They let you have the ball and try and counter, but they are the home team.

“So it all bodes well for an interesting game with one of the best defences up against the team that has scored the most.”

Both Joe Bunney and Chris Taylor are likely to come back into contention after returning to training this week, but Donervon Daniels serves the final game of his three-match ban.

“Donervon won’t be playing, so that’s that,” McPhillips said when asked about team news.

“Joe Bunney and Chris Taylor both trained on Thursday, so that improves us.

“It will be Donervon’s last match that he misses then he’ll be back next week. So it’s healthy.

“But elsewhere, competition is high. We’ve got an idea of a team, but we’ll sit down with the staff and go through it. We know the core but there are one or two decisions to make.”