Blackpool boss praises fans for their support

Home or away, the tangerine faithful have been in fine voice this season on Blackpool’s return to the Championship after six years away.

The television cameras captured the Bloomfield Road atmosphere during Blackpool’s draw with QPR, shown live on Sky Sports earlier this month.

It was the first Blackpool game to be picked for TV coverage this season and Critchley believes it was a long time coming.

“I’m absolutely delighted that the viewers get to see what I’ve been saying all season and that’s that this is the best atmosphere; not just in this division, but anywhere in this country,” Pool’s head coach said.

“It’s the whole ground, they’re incredible, they get behind the team and even when QPR scored, we’re still louder.

“It’s amazing, absolutely amazing, and as a club I think we can be really proud of how we’ve showcased ourselves. You never know, Sky might come back.”

Blackpool, who return to action with a trip to Swansea City this weekend, headed into the international break off the back of a win, a narrow defeat and a draw to leave them 10th in the table, just one point adrift of the play-offs.

Critchley said before those games that they would give his Blackpool side a good indication of where they should be looking to finish this season.

The run started with a 1-0 win against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, in a game where Pool had to withstand a lot of pressure.

The Seasiders were then unfortunate to lose narrowly at Bloomfield Road against Stoke City the following midweek.

After that, they were held to a draw at home by QPR in their final game before the international break.

“There’s mixed emotions,” Critchley said.

“We’ve got four points from the three games against three very good teams, but if I’m being honest, it should have been more.

“You could say we were fortunate at Sheffield United but we deserved more from the Stoke game and we should have beaten QPR.

“It’s a little bit mixed, but I can’t take away my pride in that performance against a very good QPR team.

“It had everything that I’d want from a Blackpool team. That was us and that was us at our best.

“We’re a good team in this division, and if we keep performing like that, then we’ll be a really good match for anyone.”

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