Blackpool backed to turn their fortunes around

The 63-year-old returned to management after a lengthy break when he was named as Neil Critchley’s successor at Bloomfield Road in early September.

He initially enjoyed a bright start to life on the Fylde coast, winning his first four league matches.

Pool were seconds away from picking up three points in his fifth against Lincoln City, which would have put them level on points with second-placed Wrexham nine games into the season.

However, that 1-1 draw against Lincoln began a run of three points from 24 which dropped the Seasiders down to 19th in League One ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Bristol Rovers.

A third of the way through the season, Bruce still believes the Seasiders are good enough to get back on track with a nine-point gap to the top six.

He said: “It’s all based on results and they’ve not been good enough, it’s quite simple.

“You have to keep the confidence levels as high as you can.

“It’s always tough, we had a wonderful start and we have to find that spark.

“We’ve got one or two of the lads at the top end of the pitch getting back to fitness, which is good, but we’re conceding as well so it’s a frustrating time.

“I’ve been in it where I’m up against it in terms of results, we can turn it around.

“I’m pretty confident we can, we’ve got a squad good enough to do that.”