'People have said' - Blackpool boss shares promising feedback of change from Steve Bruce tenure after FA Cup tie
Blackpool claimed a 1-0 over Scunthorpe United to progress to the second round of the FA Cup.
Ian Evatt states he’s pleased with the mindset shift that has occurred since his appointment as Blackpool head coach a fortnight ago.
The 43-year-old has won his first two games in charge of the Fylde Coast outfit - with the most recent being a 1-0 victory over Scunthorpe United at Bloomfield Road in the first round of the FA Cup.
Ashley Fletcher’s first half goal proved to be the difference between the two sides in the former Seasiders defender’s first home game in the dugout.
The visiting National League outfit did apply plenty of pressure after falling behind, but couldn’t find that moment of quality to strike back.
A change of mindset
While Evatt admits there’s still plenty for Blackpool to improve on, he believes things have already started to shift following the early season struggles that led to Steve Bruce’s sacking.
“So many people have said to me walking off the pitch - ‘We would’ve lost that game a month ago,’” he said.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean much to me because I wasn’t here at that point, but it’s great that the mindset is starting to turn and we’re getting used to winning again.
“That’ll do them no harm. They can’t get frustrated at the moment, because we’re in a learning phase - the most important thing is that they give me everything physically, and they’re certainly doing that.
“We’ll strive to get better. I’ve got a desire to make this work and be a huge success, and the players are so together and have given us everything.
“It’s back to learning but if we can keep winning in the meantime then brilliant.
“Winning games breeds confidence. We know we’ve got a really tough game (against Cardiff City) coming up, but I’m really looking forward to it.
“It’s another week of learning and another week of having some of the injured players back. I’m excited by what we can do.”
Evatt states he will remain realistic in his expectations for the time being as he slowly tries to get his ideas across to his players.
“It’s hard in season,” he admitted.
“We’re in the middle of the season, we’ve had low numbers in terms of first-team availability, and then we had the FA Youth Cup fixture which has affected how many players we can train with, so it’s not easy to navigate.
“It’s going to take time but the most pleasing thing for me is I’ve seen some improvement - not loads. I’m a realist, and I do understand it will take time, but we’ve come through unscathed, we’re through to the next round, and we’ve got another week to get better.”
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