Blackpool's coming home: Neil Critchley delighted to end long wait for Bloomfield Road match, even without fans

When Critchley presided over his first home match as Blackpool head coach against Tranmere Rovers in March, he could never have imagined he would have to wait more than five months for his second.

Even though today’s 1pm kick-off against newly-promoted League Two club Barrow will be behind closed doors, Critchley can’t wait to get back on home turf after seeing his side win their first two pre-season friendlies at Southport and Port Vale.

That first match at Bloomfield Road against Tranmere ended in defeat, though Blackpool had won their previous two home games against Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town.

In charge for those games was caretaker boss David Dunn, who left the club last month and returns today as Barrow manager.

Critchley said: “It’s going to be a really good week. We’re obviously looking forward to Dunny coming back on Tuesday. I’ll be delighted to see him. It should be a good game as well.

“Then we’ve got the prospect of Everton next Saturday and Blackburn the week after, so we’ve got some really good games.

“It will be nice to get back to Bloomfield Road, even if it is without supporters unfortunately. But it will still be nice to play on our home patch again.”

Before today’s game Blackpool will discover their opponents in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

The draw will be broadcast live on Sky Sports News from 10am, with ties due to be played a week before the League One season kicks-off on September 12.

Critchley added: “It’s exciting and you can feel that we’re getting closer. You can feel it within the squad and among the players.

“That excitement starts to build. There’s the cup draw on Tuesday and then the fixtures come out on Friday, which helps with the excitement of the supporters as well as us.

“It’s just unfortunate we can’t share it with them at this moment. But I’d hope the supporters, looking at the two games we’ve played, can see signs of what we’re trying to do and hopefully they’re excited about the journey we’re about to go on.”

And today’s game won’t be Blackpool’s only meeting with Barrow: the clubs have been drawn together in their EFL Trophy group.