Blackpool will not change positive tactics vows boss Neil Critchley

After Marvin Ekpiteta made it 1-1 just past the hour, the visitors were determined to remain positive and were rewarded as a Boro own goal secured the Seasiders’ first away win back in the Championship.

Head coach Critchley explained: “That’s our mentality in every single game, home or away. We have certain principles.

“I don’t want us to change. We’re the same and we’re consistent, and we try to do it as best as we can.”

And Critchley’s convictions are clear from his choice of substitutions.

He added: “When it goes 1-1, it’s not like we’re thinking about going negative.

“You might do that near the end. They obviously put Uche Ikpeazu on up front and you think about putting another defender on. But we put Jerry (striker Yates) on and kept trying to take the game to them.

“We wanted to be positive. We ended up doing that for 99 minutes.”

Not that Critchley felt his side deserved to trail in the first place, though Marcus Tavernier’s controversial early strike kept the hosts ahead for around 55 minutes.

The Pool boss added: “After they scored, we had a lot of the play, built the play from the back well but because they defend deep and in numbers it’s very hard to break them down.

“I watched them beat Nottingham Forest in midweek, so we knew they wouldn’t change the way they play. It’s very hard to create chances against them.

“When you have a lot of the ball, you’re always liable to the counter-attack.

“I wasn’t disappointed with our first-half performance.

“We knew it was going to be close but we stuck in there and we’ve got our rewards.”

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