Blackpool striker Ashley Fletcher states he’s briefly spoken to teammate Niall Ennis following his missed chances at the weekend.

The Stoke City loanee, who has already scored four times since making the move to Bloomfield Road in January, was unable to convert two headed opportunities in the Seasiders’ 2-1 defeat to Stockport County, with both attempts going straight at Hatters keeper Corey Addai.

Fletcher has endured difficulties in front of goal himself in recent years, including tough loan spells with Sheffield Wednesday and Wigan Athletic, but has found his feet in Tangerine, and bagged his seventh goal of the season in the game at Edgeley Park.

The 29-year-old doesn’t expect Ennis to be impacted by the chances that didn’t go his way ahead of the midweek meeting with Peterborough United at Bloomfield Road, and believes the best thing to do is to forget about the misses.

“I spoke with Niall this morning, and I just said to him ‘it’s one of those,’” he said.

“Last week he scored two goals, one with his head, and then this week he had two big chances. Ultimately, sometimes they come off, and sometimes they don’t.

“With a guy like Niall, he’s scored four goals, so when you’re in that form, you don’t need to think, it’s just instinctive.

“To be fair to the goalkeeper, he’s pulled off two really good saves, and on another day they go in.

“These are the fine margins that can turn a result in our favour. Niall is a confident lad, and I’ve enjoyed playing with him in the last few games.

“He gets in the right positions, and his record here speaks for itself. I don’t think it’ll affect him too much at all. He’s a confident lad, who’s really good to be around in the dressing room.”

Taking responsibility

Blackpool have suffered from a trend of conceding shortly after the break in recent months, and that was the case at the weekend.

Substitute Benony Andresson scored Stockport’s equaliser two minutes on from the restart on Saturday afternoon, before bagging a second later on in the half.

“Us as players have to take full responsibility for that,” Fletcher added.

“The manager is so clear at half time, regardless of how we’ve played, about what is to come. We knew Stockport weren’t going to be as bad as they were in the first half.

“They made three chances and put the emphasis on us to defend. We weren’t quite at it. I don’t know if it’s a mental thing or what. It’s something we have to change quickly.

“It’s about us as players taking responsibility for that, and we’ll be looking to stop it. It comes down to game management. It was so clear they were going to be better, and we needed to weather that spell we knew they were going to have.”

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