Former Seasiders defender Clarke Carlisle is backing Blackpool to make the best of a bad situation

The 43-year-old ex-centre back, who spent his formative years at Bloomfield Road, feels the drop to League One gives the Tangerines an opportunity to reset under Neil Critchley.

And Carlisle, who also played for QPR, Watford and Burnley, believes the promotion-winning head coach, who returned to the club last month, can produce the goods in the third tier yet again.

With Blackpool winning the play-offs in 2021, he said: "Nobody ever wants to see a team get relegated, but I wouldn't spend a lot of time getting downbeat about it.

"I think this could actually be a really positive thing for Blackpool Football Club, especially having seen Critch [Neil Critchley] return.

"One of the hardest things about relegation is trying to consolidate everything that you've got and turning around the environment and atmosphere - from what must've been a culture of losing or not winning - into something that is forward-thinking and positive.

"I think that Simon [Sadler] has made an astute move to get Critch in early doors because he is immediately synonymous with success at the club. All the fans can see that he's done it before, in recent years, and with a lot of the players who are currently there."

Carlisle, who played 93 times and scored seven goals for Blackpool in the basement division having joined the club as a teenager, is adamant that Critchley is as qualified as anyone to get the Seasiders back to where they want to be.

The Tangerines had held their own in the second tier in 2021-22 following a six-year hiatus under Critchley, prior to his switch to Villa Park where he became Steven Gerrard's assistant.

Carlisle believes his former club would've continued to move forward with the 44-year-old at the helm, had the ex-Liverpool Under 23s coach not given in to temptation.

"I definitely would've backed him to have taken another step forward because that's what successful and developing squads do with a coach like Neil Critchley," he said.

"I don't think anyone can challenge the fact that Critch was liked and respected at the club by fans and players alike and I don't think you can be successful without that."