Blackpool stars in unanimous agreement on exactly how League One opener with Burton will begin

Blackpool players are in unanimous agreement that one Tangerines star will open the scoring against Burton on Saturday.

The League One campaign begins this weekend as Neil Critchley looks to take the side back to the Championship on the first time of asking.

Ahead of this weekend's opener at Bloomfield Road, the Blackpool media team went behind the scenes at pre-season training to ask the squad who they believed would be first on the scoresheet this year.

Seven out of eight players who replied were in agreement that it would be Shayne Lavery to hit the back of the net first, with the only star to pick someone else being the 24-year-old striker himself.

Andy Lyons, Rop Apter, Callum Connoly and Sonny Carey all named 'Lavs' as the side's leading light up front. Dominic Thompson has clearly been impressed by set-piece practice so far and added that it could be a dead ball delivery from Albie Morgan into Lavery that breaks the deadlock.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Richard O'Donnell admitted that Lavery had been 'on form' and scored a 'great goal the other night' as striker Jake Beesley accepted that he would probably be second to score behind the Northern Irishman.

Lavery himself was humble enough to pick Marvin Ekpiteta over himself, predicting that the defender would latch onto a header come Saturday.

Lavery missed a large proportion of last year's Championship campaign with a knee injury, not appearing for Blackpool at all between March and April.

The striker managed just two goals and two assists in 27 appearances but has been on target during pre-season. Lavery scored a header against Hibernian in the 3-0 win having also netted a classy chip against Morecambe a few days earlier.

Speaking after the win over Hibs and before the start of League One, Critchley said: “I felt we were just okay in the first half. We still had some good chances, created some good moments and some good moves. But there were still elements of our play that we could have done better with.

“We could have dealt better with their balls in behind and down the channels, and a couple of our throw-ins actually lead to chances for them. There are just a few things we need to brush up on; the basics of the game.

“But generally, throughout the whole performance, some good goals and a clean sheet. We’re in a good position, it feels as though we’re in a good place going into the new season but there are always things we can improve on.”