Blackpool players' spirit level pleases Bloomfield Road boss

That’s according to Neil Critchley, who was impressed by the manner in which his players responded to their 3-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town in midweek.

The game was as good as over by the hour but the hosts continued to plough forward and went right until the end.

“What I was really heartened by was the players’ spirit, which was fantastic,” Critchley said.

“At 3-0 down, they could quite easily go under and three could become four or five.

“I’ve seen many a game where you’re losing and the opposition have all the ball, are pinning you back in your own half and look like they’re going to score every time they go forward. That wasn’t the case.

“We actually showed a great response. At 3-0, we kept pushing, we kept playing and we kept trying to play our football.

“We created some chances and I felt the attitude and the spirit of the players was fantastic under what were really difficult circumstances.

“From being in the game and not doing a lot wrong, they were almost instantly out of it. The players could easily have gone but they didn’t.

“You can’t question the spirit and togetherness of the players, it’s there in abundance – and it has been right the way through during my time at the club, and I don’t see that changing.”

Critchley knows if his side are to climb the table, they must keep showing resilience in abundance.

He added: “It’s something we’re going to have to do this season, we’re going to have to accept we’re playing in a tougher league so there’s going to be times within games where we concede, go behind or we’re in front but get pegged back.

“That’s going to happen more times this season, so responding to disappointment and overcoming that during the game – and after the game as well if you lose – is so important.

“How you feed back to the players and the messages you give is really crucial and it would be easy after losing 3-0 at home to pick out so many things.

“As a coach, you have to look at what happens over two, three or four games, not isolated moments.

“We just have to remain patient and keep believing in what we’re doing. I don’t think there was too much wrong with the performance the other night.”

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