Brett Ormerod on Blackpool's positive week, Matty Virtue's return, Derby County and Gary Madine's new deal

Not many teams have gone to Luton this season and posed them problems, because they’re absolutely flying under Nathan Jones and look nailed on to finish in the play-offs.

Neil Critchley looked to rotate his squad a little bit at Oakwell on Tuesday night and it paid off with a 2-0 win.

Hopefully Blackpool can finish the season on a high but still give a few minutes to some players that might need it.

It was great to see Matty Virtue start in midweek. It’s been a tough old road for Matty and he’s had to be patient after suffering that horrendous injury.

That can be really hard to get back into the swing of things after being out for such a long time. You can never take that for granted, I assure you.

He’s a good player though so if he can take part in the last two games, that will be fantastic for him to help him build up to next season.

Tomorrow Blackpool face another side that’s already been relegated in Derby County, who have done well given the circumstances.

The playing side and the management side have had no control over things going on above them, so Wayne Rooney’s had his hands tied behind his back for most of the season.

It’s hard enough in this league when you haven’t got that hanging over you, so fair play to Derby. Without the penalties, they’d be staying up pretty comfortably.

It was down to financial fair play though and they’ve just had to accept the consequences, but I’m sure they’ll be hoping to get the ownership sorted as soon as possible, build for next season and get back up at the first attempt.

In a strange way, this could prove to be an invaluable learning experience for Rooney. I think he’s shown a lot of loyalty as well because Everton were sniffing at one point.

He’s come across as a very good manager and the players like him, but it won’t be easy for Derby in League One next year because it’s a difficult division with a lot of big clubs who have come down and stayed down.

Look at clubs like Sunderland, Ipswich, Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday, it’s not always easy to bounce back straight away.

As for Blackpool, they’re only a point off the top 12 so if they can pick up two wins and finish in the top half, that would represent an excellent first season back in the Championship.

It’s been a fantastic season. They’ve had one or two little bumps in the road, but it’s been a great learning curve for them.

It will be interesting to see what Critchley does in the summer to strengthen. They’ve consolidated this season very comfortably but I’m sure they’ll be looking to push on next time and go for a play-off spot.

It’s alright saying ‘we could have won this game and that game and got close to the play-offs this season’, but when you come up from League One the reality is you’ve got to try and find your feet in the league as quickly as possible.

Just look at some of the teams that have gone straight back down like Rotherham and Peterborough, who seem to bungee jump.

The Championship just seems to be a step too far for Peterborough especially, who Blackpool face on the final day.

But when they drop back down to League One, they seem to play really well in that league regardless of all the bigger clubs down there.

It just shows you how well Blackpool have done to establish themselves. They’ve got a strong squad now with strength in depth, but I’d think the boss will be looking to add to that to try and get to that next level.

Off the pitch, Gary Madine recently signed a new contract which was great news. He’s been brilliant.

He’s a handful and I’ve always said I think Blackpool are a better team when Madine plays. He’s a focal point and he’s a good all-round centre forward, because he gets you goals but he also puts it about, holds it up and he’s a very clever player as well, because he’ll come into the little gaps, win flick-ons and link the play up really well.