Brett Ormerod column: Contrast of Blackpool's Lancashire derby displays couldn't have been any starker

The Preston game, it was obviously disappointing to get beat. In the second-half it was one of the first times I’ve felt Blackpool have struggled to break a team down because they didn’t really create anything - and it’s not often you can say that about Blackpool.

It looked very comfortable for Preston in the second-half and I thought their midfield three of Alan Browne, Ben Whiteman and DJ Johnson probably won them the game.

It wasn’t the end of the world, but it was certainly disappointing. They just didn’t seem like themselves and sometimes that can happen with all the build-up to the game and everything that surrounds a derby.

It just didn’t happen for them and you get those games. It wasn’t for the lack of trying, but obviously the injury to Dan Grimshaw didn’t help and took the stuffing out of them a bit because of the long delay.

But once Preston scored they seemed pretty comfortable. Blackpool huffed and puffed but they never really offered anything, which is unusual for them.

Whereas against Blackburn, every time they went forward they looked dangerous and I thought CJ Hamilton was superb. It was one of the best games I’ve seen him have this season.

He probably should have scored or squared it with that chance in the first-half, but Blackpool seemed to be nicking the ball off Blackburn high up the pitch and pressing really well.

On chances alone they were the better team and they really took the game to Blackburn and it was a really good derby game to be honest. I said at the time a draw was probably a fair result, but if you go off chances and the way Blackpool played then they probably should have won the game.

It was a really good response though and I thought it was an excellent performance. Neil Critchley will have wanted a reaction from his players, he made a few changes and he certainly got one.

I thought they were fantastic and it was a really good game with some good spells, but I thought Blackpool created the better chances and probably should have won it.

There’s only six games left now, but they’ve just got to take each game as it comes and finish the season as strongly as they can.

I’m sure there will be players who are out of contract and playing for their future, so they’ve just got to go out there and catch the eye.

Critchley made a few changes for Blackburn but they were superb. The lads that came in didn’t let the side down, they played really well, so they’ve got a strong squad.

It would be disappointing if the season just petered out and that might have been the main concern after back-to-back defeats, but it was a really good response against a Blackburn team that have been very good at Ewood Park this season.

We now have an Easter double header coming up against West Brom and Birmingham City, two sides that haven’t performed as well as they would have liked this season.

West Brom especially will be massively disappointed because they promised so much early doors and looked strong, but their form completely disappeared.

They’ve got Steve Bruce in as manager and nothing seems to have changed, their season just seems to be fizzling out.

For a club of their size who have come down from the Premier League and has parachute payments, their season will be a massive disappointment for them.

As for Birmingham, they’ve had off-the-field problems but they can be a decent team on their day, but when that day comes isn’t often enough.

They’re two teams Blackpool should be very confident in facing and hopefully they can pick up some decent results.

Naturally a bit of focus will now turn to the summer. Blackpool have got a good squad but I’m sure Critchley will have targets in mind because he’ll want to improve.

It will be an interesting summer because they probably need a couple of more faces if they want to take that next step and challenge for the top six.

They’ve done really well this season when a lot of people thought they might be cannon fodder, but it’s all part of the progression so it will be interesting to see who his targets are.

I’m sure he’ll have them and I’m sure he’ll want to build on this season. He’ll probably have a few ideas at the moment but I think it’s one to sit down at the end of the season, have a chat and see what their expectations are for next season.