Blackpool boss Neil Critchley praises 'proper football people' at tomorrow's opponents Accrington Stanley

Blackpool head to the Crown Ground tomorrow to face a Stanley team that has defied expectations once again to sit in eighth place in the League One table.

In fact, Coleman’s side are just three points off second-placed Portsmouth with three games in hand.

Critchley said: “It’s incredible, absolutely incredible the job John has done.

“I’ve got an enormous amount of respect for John, (assistant) Jimmy Bell and (first-team coach) John Doolan there. They’re proper football people.

“They love football, they love Accrington, they’re competitors, they’re winners and have so much experience of how to win games. They’ve been incredibly successful.

“I love seeing John and coming up against him because he exudes football enthusiasm. He’s done an unbelievable job there.

“He’s a big Liverpool fan, so I often saw him down at the training ground while I worked in the academy. We also played against them a couple of times in pre-season and reserve games or if we needed an extra game John would always look to bring a team down to play us.

“I used to spot him in the stands sometimes watching the games. He tried to get there as much as he could because he’s a mad, passionate Liverpool supporter.

“I always look forward to seeing John and I look forward to seeing him on Saturday, that’s for certain.”

Tomorrow’s encounter brings together the league’s two form sides, Blackpool having won six of their last eight games and Accrington just one fewer.

Critchley added: “They’re in great form, like we are, so on paper it looks like a really good game between two in-form teams. It should be an exciting battle.

“Accrington are really tough to play against, especially at home, and you’ve only got to look at the way they bounced back from the blip they had against Wigan to beat Gillingham in the week and keep a clean sheet. That just shows you the capabilities of John and his team.”