Brett Ormerod column: Blackpool have the chance to bounce back against West Bromwich Albion

I watched the game against Bristol Rovers, and for 45 minutes, they were so dominant and led through an early goal.

Bristol Rovers basically had two chances and scored them both. How they went in ahead at half-time, I’ll never know.

Blackpool have got to start putting their chances away because, with the dominance they had, I was absolutely speechless.

I’ve never seen a 45 minutes as dominant as that, only for the opposition team to get two chances and score two goals.

Second half, to be fair to Bristol Rovers, they started well and could have gone 3-1 or 4-1 up.

They miss a penalty, Brandon Hanlan misses an absolute sitter and they have one or two other good chances as well.

Blackpool came back into their stride and had a lot of dominance again late on but couldn’t find that finish.

The Seasiders made the keeper work, he made some good saves, and on another day they could have scored three or four.

I’m sure everyone involved with the club will have been scratching their heads and wondering how Blackpool had managed to lose it.

When Bez Lubala smashed it over the bar right at the end, that just summed it up. At that point you just knew it wasn’t going to happen, it wasn’t their day.

There are plenty of positives to take from their all-round performance, but you’ve got to start seeing these games out.

If you want to be up there challenging, you’ve got to make sure you win the games where you’re so dominant.

There are going to be times when you aren’t playing well and you’re losing games, but the top teams win those type of games. They go and get the second goal and maybe even a third.

I felt Blackpool could have gone on to get three or four, but goals change football matches and that proved to be the case last week.

The Seasiders still aren’t a million miles away from the play-offs and there’s still a lot of football to be played, so fans should remain optimistic. It’s an unusual year, it’s an unusual season, so anything can happen.

Up until the last two or three games they’ve been in really good form, but they’ve got to get back to that as soon as possible if they have serious aspirations of being up there and wanting to get promoted.

Dan Ballard’s loan deal from Arsenal has been extended until the end of the season, which is a good piece of business.

He’s done well. He’s a natural defender, he puts his head in where it hurts, so I think it’s great news for Blackpool and it’s good news for him as well, as he’d only go back to Arsenal and play Under-23 football, which isn’t the same.

He’s getting a really good experience with Blackpool and he’s doing well, so that’s very good news.

This weekend, Blackpool turn their attention to the FA Cup as they take on West Brom in the third round.

They’re struggling in the Premier League and confidence is probably low. Sam Allardyce has come in and got a good result against Liverpool, but apart from that, it hasn’t turned around as quickly as they would have hoped.

If there is a good time to play West Brom, it’s got to be now and I’d imagine Big Sam will make a few changes.

Results-wise, it hasn’t gone Blackpool’s way in the last couple of games but the performance against Bristol Rovers for 70 minutes was very, very good, so I think they’ve got a good chance.

You couldn’t really ask to play a Premier League side at a better stage of the season because, right now, they are struggling.

Allardyce has his work cut out at the Hawthorns. It’s going to be a tough season for them, they aren’t winning matches and that’s got to affect their confidence.

On the flip side, it might be a welcome break for the Baggies not to be playing in that pressure cooker of the Premier League.

It’s a fantastic time for Blackpool to be playing them, they’re playing top-flight players so they’ve got to go out and show everyone what they’re capable of.

I think Blackpool tend to play football that is more effective against the better sides, which is something we’ve seen in League One recently with wins against some of the sides at the top.

I think they’ve got a good chance, so why can’t they go and cause an upset?

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