Blackpool boss will not tolerate a drop in standards

The Seasiders strengthened their play-off credentials with an impressive win against top six rivals Charlton Athletic last weekend.

It leaves McPhillips’ men in eighth and just one point off Barnsley in that final play-off spot ahead of today’s visit to Oxford United.

As Blackpool approach the halfway stage in League One, McPhillips provided his assessment on how the Seasiders have done so far.

“I think we’ve done alright,” the Pool boss said.

“We could have picked up some more points, some of the draws could have been wins but I’m reasonably pleased. But we’re striving to do better.

“It was a hell of a win against Charlton last week and then they go to (league leaders) Portsmouth on the Tuesday and win. You think ‘wow’ because it sounds like they deserved it too.

“The games are all so tight but I do think Charlton are one of the better teams, so to win that game was a hell of a win for us.

“But I think you’ve just got to be on the money every game now, whoever you’re playing, you’ve got to be on the front foot and you can’t let your standards drop.

“You’ve got to be on it and that’s the job, making sure we’re on it every game and we have some big games coming up now.

“It’s good the lads put demands on themselves and we did start pre-season thinking ‘we’re not bad here, we’ve signed some good players’.

“In any competition you want to do well and it’s the league and we want to get as high up as we possibly can.

“If we can make the play-offs that would be brilliant.

“Are we capable? I think we are. But again you’ve got to do it week in, week out.

“Oxford away, Barnsley at home, whoever it is we’ve got to keep our standards really high.

“You need some luck with your best players staying fit and your best players not getting sold and then hopefully you can bring one or two in that can help you.”

McPhillips, meanwhile, delivered a positive update regarding the fitness of long-term absentee Max Clayton, who hasn’t made an appearance for Blackpool since December 2017.

The 24-year-old, who has made just seven appearances during his time at Bloomfield Road, has a long-standing hamstring issue, but McPhillips believes the forward is on the right track.

“Max is doing really well with his rehab,” he said.

“Seeing him running, he looks in great condition.

“He obviously had a long time out last year so we’ve tried looking after him the best we can, but football’s football and I think he was involved in three games in a week which highlighted the weakness.

“It’s a shame but he’s a great kid and he will just get on with it.”