Blackpool boss shares Dale Taylor praise after difficult injury run - 'A top player at this level'

Blackpool boss Ian Evatt praised Dale Taylor’s contribution after the striker impressed in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Taylor worked hard throughout the contest as the Seasiders fought back to earn a point, with Jerry Yates coming off the bench to score a late equaliser.

Evatt was pleased to have Taylor fit and available again after enduring a difficult spell with injuries.

The Northern Ireland international has made four appearances since returning the sidelines and played the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s draw with the Owls.

“He’s top,” Evatt said of Taylor. “Just having him fit and available is crucial for us, and he’s a top player at this level.

“Dale has had some difficult times with injuries, but he is back now, fully fit and firing. Today, I thought he gave a good performance.”

Bailey Peacock-Farrell also played an important role for Blackpool at Hillsborough, making a number of saves and dealing with several attempts from distance, as well as commanding his penalty area.

“Again, he’s a top player at this level,” Evatt said of Peacock-Farrell.

“His job is to lock the game out really, to be high up, to almost be a sweeper-keeper at times and anything over the top to deal with those situations, so they made some audacious efforts, but I’m confident that Bailey would always read that and recover.”

Yates’ 81st-minute finish rescued a point for Blackpool after Davis Keillor-Dunn had given Wednesday the lead in the first half.

Evatt felt his side had created enough opportunities to find an equaliser, but also highlighted chances they could have taken to win the game.

“We knocked on the door enough to get one really big chance,” Evatt added.

“We had others, Hayden missed a great opportunity in the second half that really has to be a goal, and Olly Casey almost nicks it for us at the end, Olly’s finishing is good, he strikes a good ball.

“But as I said, we’ve taken a step forward today, but recently, once we’ve taken a step forward, we’ve taken a couple backwards, and we can’t allow that to happen again.

“We’ve got to make sure that we reset, we regroup, we learn again from today and get ready for Saturday.”

Next up for Blackpool is a trip to National League outfit Hornchurch in the FA Cup first-round on Saturday.