Blackpool will get the best out of former Cardiff City striker Gary Madine when he's 'playing on the edge'

The striker was involved in a moment of controversy against his former club Cardiff City on Saturday 15 minutes before his equalising goal.

Madine’s headed leveller was all the more sweeter for the forward given he failed to find the back of the net during his two years in South Wales having been brought in for a £6m fee.

The Bluebirds felt the 32-year-old had purposely stamped on defender Perry Ng as the two tussled for the ball, but referee Josh Smith disagreed and only brandished a yellow card rather than the red the home fans were baying for.

After the game, Cardiff boss Mark Hudson made the bold claim the apparent stamp was “premeditated” on Madine’s part.

Hudson also suggested the challenge was a potential “leg breaker”.

But Appleton didn’t see anything wrong with his player’s challenge and actually welcomed Madine being “close to boiling point”.

“Clearly it was a game he was looking forward to. I didn’t have to speak to him or try and motivate him today, that was obvious,” Pool’s head coach said.

“Gaz is at his best when he’s playing on the edge. Coming up against him as a manager with previous times, I’ve always seen the best Gary Madine when he’s on the edge and he plays close to boiling point at times.

“That’s where I want him to be because I know he’s got it in him to control himself like he did today.

“When we were hitting diagonals and controlled passes into him he was dominating the two centre halves.

“I know they wanted more than a yellow for that incident on the far side but I didn’t see anything in it personally.

“He just wanted to stop the lad from playing a ball down the line and as a centre-back you accept that type of contact can come because that’s the league we’re in.”

Because Saturday’s incident was spotted by the referee on the pitch, no retrospective action can be taken against Madine.