Blackpool manager Simon Grayson says it’s time for action instead of words

Under-fire Blackpool boss Simon Grayson insists the time for talking is over.
Simon Grayson is targeting three points for Blackpool against Southend UnitedSimon Grayson is targeting three points for Blackpool against Southend United
Simon Grayson is targeting three points for Blackpool against Southend United

The Seasiders take on relegation-threatened Southend United today, desperately aiming to claim a long-overdue win.

Grayson has overseen a run of 10 games without a victory in all competitions, an alarming streak that has seen Pool plummet from fourth in the League One table to 15th.

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Blackpool, who have lost six of their last seven league outings, are now closer to the relegation zone than the top six.

“We’ve got to keep working hard but we’ve also got to make sure we do the basics right,” Grayson said.

“But the quality players we’ve brought to the club need to go and show what they’re capable of doing as well.

“There’s no getting away from it that we’ve had a bad run of results.

“Performances haven’t been too bad.

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“If we had been losing heavily every week, 2 or 3-0, then you’d be scratching your head thinking where you’re going to get a result from.

“But all these defeats we’ve had recently have been by the odd goal, 1-0s and 2-1s, so many of the games recently have been a case of fine margins.

“We’ve hit the post at Lincoln where the ball goes into the goalkeeper’s hands, whereas that might have gone in earlier in the season.

Gary Madine last week at Oxford hits the post in the 95th minute.

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“I do genuinely believe it’s a lot of fine margins but we are making one or two mistakes as well.

“We can’t gift the opposition two-goal head starts as we did at Wycombe.

“When we dominate games we need to be ruthless in both boxes.

“But we’ve got to keep working hard. We’ve had a good week on the training pitch.

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“It’s alright talking about what we’re wanting to do, but we’ve got to do it at the weekend.”

The Seasiders return to league action at Bloomfield Road for the first time since Boxing Day, when they slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Accrington Stanley.

“It’s been a long time,” Grayson added.

“We obviously had the Reading game in the FA Cup a few weeks ago but other than that we’ve not played at home in the league for a while.

“We had some really good form before the Accrington and Shrewsbury games and we want to pick up from where we left off before those results.

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“We need to get on the front foot, show the supporters what we’re capable of doing and get them back on side to start getting results again.”

When asked if there’s more likely to be more pressure on his shoulders in front of Blackpool’s home crowd, Grayson replied: “Even if you’re away you feel the pressure because we’re not on a great run of results at this moment of time.

“As staff and players, more importantly, we’ve got to go out and show what it means to them.

“Go and play with a purpose, go and play with an intensity, go and play with a freedom to make things happen and have a ruthlessness and desire not to get beaten.

“If we can put all those things together, one result is very close to turning the season around.”