Blackpool boss Neil Critchley relishes return to action against Rochdale and hectic run-in

The Seasiders take on Rochdale at Bloomfield Road tonight (7pm), looking to get back on track after slumping to a 2-0 defeat at Ipswich Town in their last outing on February 6.

Blackpool had been due to host Burton Albion this time last week before taking on Peterborough United at the weekend, but both games fell victim to the freezing temperatures.

It’s left the Seasiders with a backlog of fixtures, which means they’ll play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday almost every week until the end of the campaign.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” Critchley said.

“It’s a big challenge to fit in the amount of games we’ve got between now and the end of the season, but it’s one we’re all going to relish and look forward to.

“We’ll look forward to it even more if we can get some good results.

“The next 10 to 12 games will be really important to keep that hope of where we want to be at the end of the season.

“However, not just one game in isolation is going to decide where we’re going to end up – it’s going to be what happens over 46 games and we’ve got plenty to go.

“I’m sure between now and the end of the season we’ll lose the odd game here and there but it’s how we react, it’s how we bounce back.

“The Ipswich game seems an awful long time ago now but it’s up to us to bounce back and that starts with Rochdale.”

If there’s one positive from Blackpool’s back-to-back postponements, it’s the opportunity certain players have had to improve their fitness.

Long-term absentees Daniel Gretarsson and CJ Hamilton have stepped up their recovery and could rejoin the group in the not-too-distant future.

Although Gary Madine remains sidelined with a groin complaint, the striker is improving and could be back for the weekend journey to Portsmouth.

Ethan Robson and Matty Virtue are both back involved after missing the last couple of weeks with knocks.

“For some players it’s helped to clear up their knocks and their aches and their pains, Critchley said.

“It’s just given them a little bit of extra time and we can put some extra training into them.

“However, some players are in the rhythm of playing games and there are others who are inbetween, they’re fit but they’ve not been playing and they want to play.

“You have to think about all the individual needs of the group and that’s how you manage the squad.

“As long as we have good communication and our planning is good and you look after the players differently physically, then you hope somewhere down the line you get the benefit of that.”

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