Brett Ormerod column: Blackpool remain well placed after midweek point

The game against Burton Albion in midweek was always going to be a difficult one because they’re the in-form team in the division.

They had won six games on the spin going into Tuesday night, and since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has gone back there, they’ve flown up the league and won nine in 11, which is absolutely magnificent.

That game had been postponed twice before, so it was a good job it wasn’t postponed again!

It’s still a good point though and Blackpool are in a good position with games in hand on a lot of teams.

The draws, okay, they’re not wins but on the flip side, they’re not being beaten either. They’re unbeaten in eight now and the momentum carries on.

I’ve been involved in Blackpool sides that have finished in the play-offs and I know how important it is to keep the points tally ticking over, even when you’re not playing particularly well.

It does a lot for confidence, because the longer you remain unbeaten, the more momentum it will give you.

Burton are no pushovers, they’re on an absolutely incredible run, so it was always going to be a tough game.

The Brewers have obviously made a lot of changes to their squad since the game was originally due to take place, which was at the end of January.

They’re a completely different outfit to when Blackpool should have played them, but that’s just football. That’s just the nature of how things have gone.

In terms of the bigger picture in football, that’s probably quite a small issue compared to the absence of fans and Covid and things like that.

It’s just one of those things. Hasselbaink has gone in there, made a lot of changes and it’s paid off because he’s hit the ground running and had an immediate effect.

From looking like absolute relegation certainties, they’re now flying up the league.

Going back to last weekend, it was a goalless draw against Fleetwood Town which always promised to be a tough game.

It’s a local rivalry, so form didn’t really matter, but it turns out both sides are doing really well at the minute. I think it was a case of neither team wanting to lose.

With Simon Grayson and David Dunn now at Fleetwood, a former Blackpool manager and a former Blackpool coach, it was always going to be a really tough game so it’s another decent point.

Fleetwood are in good form and they had a good win against Ipswich in midweek, so they’re starting to get their act together and starting to climb the table and look at the play-offs.

It’s all pointing to an interesting end to the season.

Kevin Stewart picked up an injury at the weekend and then CJ Hamilton was missing in midweek, which is a blow.

It’s why you have squads though and I’ve said previously in this column, I think Blackpool have got one of the best squads in the league in terms of depth. They’ve got really good players throughout and have a couple of players for each position.

They can maintain their form even when key players are missing, but if they can get some of those injured players back before the end of the season, that would be a major help.

Gary Madine is one of those still sidelined and he’s been a big miss.

He was one of the in-form strikers in the league before he got injured, he was scoring goals and had a great partnership with Jerry Yates.

You can’t take a player out of the team like Madine, who was having a big influence on the way Blackpool play.

He leads the line well, he gets himself in the box, he’s really good at holding the ball up, so he’s a big player and has been massively missed.

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