Blackpool deliver worst display of the season in woeful defeat to Rotherham United

The Seasiders can have no complaints with the result and the scoreline as they returned to action after a 10-day absence.

Despite initially getting off to a bright start, Michael Appleton’s side were second best for the vast majority of proceedings.

They were outplayed in all facets of the game and looked sloppy across the park, especially in midfield where their lack of quality came to the fore once again.

They also looked completely devoid of ideas in the final third and failed to test Rotherham keeper Viktor Johansson.

Blackpool, who were searching for their first back-to-back wins of the season, momentarily rallied in the second-half after a dreadful first, but it still wasn’t enough to stop the Millers scoring two more goals late on.

The result sees Appleton’s men drop down to 16th in the Championship table.

The Seasiders named an unchanged side from their last outing, the 1-0 win against Huddersfield Town 10 days ago.

It meant Ian Poveda was fit enough to start despite being rated 50/50 in the build-up by Appleton.

It also saw the Seasiders stick with their 3-4-3 formation to match up Rotherham’s similar system.

Sonny Carey returned from his three-match suspension to feature on the bench while Charlie Patino recovered from his ankle injury to also be included among the substitutes.

Jack Moore and Luke Garbutt were the two to drop off the bench.

Gary Madine served the second game of his three-match suspension while Kevin Stewart, Lewis Fiorini, Keshi Anderson and Jake Beesley all remain sidelined.

Jerry Yates led the line against the side he left to join Blackpool in 2020, having spent six years with the Millers.

A minute’s silence was impeccably observed prior to kick-off to commemorate The Queen’s passing, before the national anthem was sung.

Leading up to the game, Appleton said he expected his side would have to withstand an early storm from the hosts.

But it turned out to be the Seasiders who came storming out of the blocks, having three decent attempts on goal inside the opening four minutes.

The first two opportunities both fell to Callum Connolly, the midfielder seeing a volley deflect wide before coming agonisingly close to picking out the bottom corner with a glancing header from a Kenny Dougall cross.

Yates then tested Millers keeper Viktor Johansson with a low effort from range which the shot stopper was equal to.

Rotherham are renowned for their threats from corners and set pieces and that’s exactly how Paul Warne’s side almost took the lead after just eight minutes.

Dan Barlaser, strongly linked with a move to Bloomfield Road during the summer, provided a deep cross which Grant Hall somehow steered wide at the back post.

A half chance came and went for Yates as Jordan Gabriel pulled the ball back into a dangerous area. Yates managed to get the ball under control but couldn’t quite get a shot off as he appeared to be pulled back at the same time, but the referee allowed play to continue.

Rotherham soon took the initiative in the game as some sloppiness crept into Blackpool’s play.

Thankfully clear-cut chances remained few and far between, although Chiedozie Ogbene did glance over with a header after the visitors were caught napping from a short corner.

Little was improving from a Blackpool point of view though and the longer the half wore on, the more inevitable it became Rotherham would open the scoring.

In the 34rd minute, that’s exactly what happened and it was no surprise the goal came in such a sloppy, needless and avoidable manner.

A ball into the box was headed by Richard Wood towards the unmarked Ogbene, who looped a well-placed header over Grimshaw and into the far corner.

You’d have hoped the goal would have woken Blackpool up from their slumber, but unfortunately that didn’t prove to be the case.

Instead, more and more defensive errors crept into Blackpool’s game as nervousness set in across the board, but thankfully they managed to make it through to half-time without conceding a second.

In fact, they could have bagged an unlikely equaliser when Kenny Dougall drilled a low shot wide of the upright after Dom Thompson’s cross had been partially cleared.

Despite the chance, Blackpool had been comfortably second best in the opening 45 minutes despite initially starting like a house on fire.

The Seasiders looked nervy and shaky across the pitch and only served to invite more and more pressure on themselves.

Despite this, Appleton - somewhat surprisingly - opted not to change anything at the half-time break.

It inevitably resulted in more Rotherham pressure at the start of the second half, with a second goal appearing all but inevitable.

Just over 10 minutes into the second period, Appleton did eventually make a change by bringing Shayne Lavery into the fray for Ian Poveda, who looked a little rusty, albeit the Leeds United loanee was well marshalled and tightly marked throughout.

The change appeared to have an immediate impact as Blackpool finally began to turn the screw, enjoying some long-awaited pressure in the Rotherham half.

A second change followed in the 66th minute, as the returning Patino replaced Connolly in the middle of the park.

Rotherham’s intensity levels appeared to have dropped, but all of a sudden they took the initiative once again and almost doubled their lead in the 72nd minute.

It was a big let off for Blackpool as the ball ricocheted around the box before falling to Ben Wiles, who rattled the post with a powerful low effort.

Rotherham’s second goal did eventually arrive seven minutes from time though and lo and behold, it was another woeful goal to concede from Blackpool’s point to view.

Another set piece was worked to the unmarked Wes Harding at the back post who had the simple task of slotting home into the back of the empty net.

Two almost instantly became three as Ben Wiles headed home from close range, but the ‘goal’ was ruled out for offside.

Rotherham’s third did arrive two minutes later though when substitute George Kelly slotted home after Grimshaw could only parry a long-range effort into the striker’s path.

Prior to that, Appleton had made a double substitution with Sonny Carey and Callum Wright coming off the bench, but the change came far too late in the day for the Seasiders.

TEAMS

Rotherham: Johansson, Harding, Wood, Hall, Norton-Cuffy (Humphreys), Barlaser, Rathbone (High), Wiles, Bramall (Bola), Washington (Kelly), Ogbene

Subs not used: Vickers, McCart, Lindsay

Blackpool: Grimshaw, Gabriel, Williams, Ekpiteta, Thorniley, Thompson, Dougall, Connolly (Patino), Poveda (Lavery), Corbeanu, Yates

Subs not used: Maxwell, Husband, Carey, Wright, Hamilton

Referee: Michael Salisbury

Attendance: 9,105 (698 Blackpool)