Blackpool head coach wants to see his players hitting the front

The Seasiders have fallen behind in all four Championship fixtures to date, though they have twice hit back to earn draws.

Head coach Critchley believes it would be a major step forward if they can change that pattern at The Den, where they end their first block of games before the international break.

Speaking ahead of last night’s Carabao Cup tie against Sunderland, Critchley noted the only time this season Blackpool had scored first was in the previous round against Middlesbrough two weeks ago, when they won 3-0.

“It would be nice to go in front,” the Pool boss said.

“It’s almost as though we go 1-0 down and then decide we may as well go for it. I wish we’d do that from the start.”

Critchley has spoken previously this season about his side’s slow starts and improvement as games have progressed.

On Saturday at Bournemouth, Blackpool recovered from two goals down and Critchley’s target now is to see high standards maintained over 90 minutes.

He said: “We did not do a lot wrong in the first half at Bournemouth but got punished by two isolated moments.

“When we had moments of our own we didn’t produce the quality that Dominic Solanke (scorer of Bournemouth’s goals) did with his moments.

“We just reinforced a few things at half-time because we knew that, if we scored first in the second half, the momentum would change.

“It did and our belief does seem to grow and grow in games. With our energy and fitness, we had them pinned back at the end and we were fully deserving of the point.

“We just need to be more consistent in our belief in playing the football we want to play. If we can maintain our intensity for the whole game we’ve shown we can be competitive.

“For long periods of games, we have competed. The last three league games were all against teams in the top seven.

“I know it’s early days but we have played in-form teams who I think will have a good season and we have competed.”

Critchley knows all about England international Solanke from their time at Liverpool and said: “He is a fantastic striker who has obviously had a great upbringing and development at Liverpool.

“It didn’t quite happen for him there but there’s no doubting his ability and potential.

“I thought he would score a hat-trick and he nearly did when Maxi (Chris Maxwell) pulled off a point-winning save for us.”

Blackpool have also announced they will hold an open training session on the Bloomfield Road pitch on Monday.

The session will begin at noon on the bank holiday, when supporters can have photos taken with the play-off trophy.

Bloomfield Bear will be in attendance and refreshments are available.

There is no charge and turnstiles will open at 11am, though supporters are required to print out a ticket available via the club website from today.

Critchley said: “It’s fantastic that we can do something like this again with the supporters.

“They will get to see the preparation of how we train, as well as see the players in a different environment outside of a matchday.”

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