Blackpool FC: Michael Appleton discusses the importance of players showing 'courage and bravery'

The 46-year-old admits he would rather see “positive mistakes,” which come from trying to create something.

Appleton states it is also important for teams to take risks in order to win games.

He said: “As an ex-player, the first thing I wanted to do was win my personal battle. Whoever I was up against, and I was a midfield player, I wanted to win that battle and then whether it’s as a unit or as a group, you try and dominate areas of the pitch.

“There are different ways of doing it. There’s being dominant aerially, making sure you win more second balls and 50-50 challenges. But there’s also the other side of it as well, to have the courage and bravery to get on the ball when it’s not going for you and when you’ve got bodies around you.

“When you’re in the final third and if you’re in the team to create, go and create, be expressive, beat people and get shots off at goal.

“There are various ways and different players in different positions have different expectations of what we want from them and I just want them to bring the best version of themselves every time we play.

“I have a saying with the players, if you’re going to make a mistake make a positive one and not a negative one. What I mean by that is I’d rather someone make a mistake by trying to play a forward pass and trying to be aggressive, rather than being safe and not really wanting to get on the ball.

“You’re not going to win any game of football if you’re not going to take a risk, because you’re reliant on keeping a clean sheet and almost smacking the ball off the backside of the opposition to score you an own goal.

“To score goals and win games, you have to take risks. If you want to improve as players, improve as a group and develop, which is something I’ve done over numerous years with numerous players, you have to take risks.”