Blackpool back in top half but boss Neil Critchley still wants more

The Seasiders moved back up to 12th place on Saturday, when they got back to winning ways with a 3-1 home victory against Peterborough United.

It was Blackpool’s first win in eight games and brought an end to their three-match losing streak.

While Critchley’s side could slip back a place tonight, if Sheffield United can avoid defeat away to leaders Fulham, the newly-promoted Seasiders are still sitting pretty at the halfway point in the season.

When asked if he concurs with that view, Critchley said: “I’m sure before a ball was kicked, if you said that at the halfway point in the Championship season you’d be in the top half of the table and on 30 points, then we’d possibly have taken that.

“But we do want more. We want to get better and be competitive in every game. That’s what we do. We try to improve, learn from every game and move on.

“This league is brutal. I was watching Middlesbrough v Bournemouth before our game and someone said Bournemouth had only won one in eight. And that’s Bournemouth! Look at their squad and how good they are.

“It’s easy to go on a run of losing games in this division because there’s nothing in it.

“There was nothing in our game against Peterborough, although I have to say if any team deserved to win in terms of chances created, then it was us.”

A defeat against Peterborough, who scored first only for Keshi Anderson to equalise, would have seen the gap between Blackpool and the bottom three cut to just five points.

But the win, which came courtesy of late goals from substitutes Sonny Carey and Jerry Yates, created a nice 11-point buffer.

Critchley added: “The league is so tight. There’s nothing in it but this win sets us up nicely for a busy Christmas period.

“I’ve got full belief in these players, not just ability-wise but their characters and their personalities.

“You can question sometimes decisions they might make on the pitch but you can’t question their commitment and their fighting spirit.

“They got their rewards at the end of the game and I think the third goal is a great example of how we’re still pressing in the 90th minute – we’ve still got the energy.

“Jordan Gabriel is pressing on the corner of their penalty box in the 90th minute. There’s no sitting back, we’re going for it.

“Jordan shows great energy, Josh (Bowler) squares it and Jerry puts it in for us off a rebound.

That tells you everything you need to know about this group of players.”

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