Blackpool are getting the results their previous performances deserved

Sunday’s 3-0 win at Eastbourne Borough in the first round of the FA Cup made it four victories from Blackpool’s last five games in all competitions.

Critchley’s side, who have now won their last three games, now find themselves in the second round of the FA Cup, in the top half of the League One table and on the verge of qualifying from the EFL Trophy group stage.

It’s quite a revival given it was only a few weeks ago that Blackpool had lost six of their opening nine games of the campaign.

Despite their winning run, Critchley doesn’t believe his side’s displays have been any better in recent weeks than they were in the opening stages of the season.

“I’ve got to be honest, even when we were losing at the start of the season I wasn’t too concerned because the performance levels were good,” Pool’s head coach said.

“We’ve been consistent in how we’ve played, we’re quite a hard team to score against and we don’t concede many.

“Our Achilles heel is probably not taking our chances, but against Eastbourne on Sunday, we’ve taken them and that’s been the difference between the two teams.

“I honestly don’t think the performances have been any better than they were at the start of the season, we’re just taking our chances when they come which we weren’t doing at the beginning of the season.

“We’re a hard team to score against and if we continue that, while taking our chances at the other end, then we’re going to be even better with the future.

“I’m delighted with the performance, I’m delighted with the result and we move on to Leeds in the EFL Trophy on Wednesday night now.”

Blackpool were made to work hard for their FA Cup win against Eastbourne at the weekend.

They eventually eased into the second round thanks to a Gary Madine brace and a late Jerry Yates strike.

“We remained patient in what we were doing and we believed in how we were playing,” Critchley added.

“You know coming away from home, it’s all set up for the television cameras for an FA Cup upset.

“Everyone wants to see a shock and we’ve had to do our job properly and professionally to avoid one.

“I was really delighted with the first 70 minutes but I was disappointed with the last 20 minutes.

“We took our foot off the pedal, we got a bit sloppy, a bit casual, and we allowed them back into the game a little bit.

“We’ve won, we’re into the next round and sometimes it’s about getting the job done and we’ve done that.”

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