Donervon Daniels wants a change of luck as Blackpool head to Bristol Rovers

The Seasiders head to the Memorial Ground after seeing their seven-game unbeaten run end last weekend with a 1-0 defeat at home to Oxford United.

Daniels felt Pool were harshly done by in that game as the winning goal, a 25-yard stunner from Jordan Graham, came from a free-kick he felt should not have been awarded.

He said: “Jay (Spearing) was extremely frustrated to give away the free kick, we all were. I didn’t think it was a free-kick.

“I think the referee was on the wrong side and you could see throughout the game he gave a lot of set-plays for them.

“But he put it away well. One thing you have to give the lad credit for is the way he put it away. It was a really good free-kick.

“He gave one of the best goalkeepers in the league no chance of stopping it, so it was frustrating.”

Both Daniels and Terry McPhillips admitted it was tough for Pool to play their natural passing game last week due to the poor state of the Bloomfield Road pitch.

The surface at Bristol Rovers’ ground isn’t expected to be much better, but Daniels insists the Seasiders can’t use that as an excuse.

“We’re used to the surface we have, but we’re not going to use it as an excuse even though you have to concentrate extremely hard perform you do anything,” the 25-year-old added.

“We’re looking forward to the Bristol Rovers game. I don’t really know what their surface is like but we’re going to just try and play our game.

“Whatever system we go up against we’re just going to give it our all.”

While admitting he’s a centre-back first and foremost, Daniels says he’s happy to play wherever he’s instructed to for the good of the team.

He has predominantly used as a centre-half since signing for the club back in August.

In recent weeks, with Curtis Tilt and Ben Heneghan excelling in the two centre-back spots and Ollie Turton used in midfield, Daniels has found himself at right-back.

However, he insists he has no issue with being asked to play that role and will continue to do so if it means getting in the team.

“I just keep doing what I’m asked to do for the team from the coaching staff,” Daniels said.

“From my personal point of view I’m a centre-half who can play right-back and I’ll play where the team needs me to play.

“I don’t mind, I want to be on the pitch. I want to keep improving and keep getting the minutes under my belt and contribute to the team.

“It’s fair to say that I’m a centre-half. But I’m now playing in a position that me and the coaching staff see, when we work the ball out to my side, as an area where can get a bit of joy from a powerful and creative point of view.

“I feel like I’ve come on in that position but I am a centre-half that can play right-back and sometimes left-back.

“I feel the whole backline is doing well. When Marc Bola was fit the back four was solid with Marc, Tilty (Curtis Tilt), Ben (Heneghan) and myself.

“Now Nick (Anderton) is in the side and he’s also solid. I don’t think Oxford really challenged us as a backline so you could say, from that standpoint, the stats speak for themselves as we’ve got 16 clean sheets.

“Me, Ben, Tilty, Bola, Nick, Ollie Turton, Jay Spearing, whoever is in this team contributes to those stats.”

With the club officially being placed into receivership last week, that could spell uncertainty for the players and backroom staff.

But Daniels insists that’s not the case and is looking forward to the day where the fans flock back to Bloomfield Road.

“The players don’t have any emotion towards it,” the defender said. “We just come in on a Monday, go home and we don’t really have any information about it.

“Our emotion is none. We wait to see what happens and hopefully we see more supporters in the stadium soon. If not, we just crack on.

“When we played against Charlton they had a decent crowd there and obviously the boys like to play in front of big crowds. At Sunderland it was the same.

“To have that at our own stadium would be amazing, so if that happens then great.”