Arsenal loanee Dan Ballard frustrated Blackpool couldn't hold on for three points against Crewe after netting his first goal for the club

The Seasiders were leading 1-0 up until the 86th minute at Bloomfield Road last night after Ballard’s first-half header, his first goal for the club.

But Crewe substitute Stephen Walker beat the offside trap late on to fire past Chris Maxwell to deny the Seasiders a fourth straight victory.

“We’re all frustrated as a team,” Ballard admitted.

“We didn’t play the best game, we didn’t play how we wanted to play, but to be leading so late on in the game, it’s frustrating not to get the three points.

“We need to start winning these games, because we want to start climbing up the table.

“It was a frustrating performance given it came off the back of a few good results, which we really wanted to build upon.

“But we won’t dwell on it, we’ve got loads of games coming up so it’s a good opportunity to climb up the table.”

Ballard’s goal came on his 18th appearance for the club in a season-long loan spell from Arsenal which has been interrupted by both injuries and Covid-19.

“I’ve been waiting for my first goal, I probably could have done a lot better in the box up to now,” the 21-year-old added.

“Hopefully now I’ve got one, I can push on and, you never know, hopefully get a few more.

“It’s been a bit stop-start for me over the last few months so hopefully I can stay fit, stay injury free and put in some good performances to help the team.

“It’s a busy schedule coming up, so we’re going to need all the team and everyone is aware of that.

“We’ve got to do everything we can off the pitch to stay fit and hopefully we can keep the squad together as much as possible and get those results.”

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