From the ridiculous to the sublime: Blackpool's mood turned on its head following yin and yang week

The mood was understandably gloomy after the disappointing defeat at Bristol City on Saturday.

It was hard to see where the next goal was going to come from, never mind the next win.

The gap to safety had stretched to six points while Cardiff City boasted a far superior goal difference, which effectively made it seven.

It felt as though the Seasiders were at risk of becoming cut adrift ahead of the international break.

But fast forward a few days and the mood has been turned completely on its head.

The gap is now down to four points and the disparity in goal difference between Blackpool and Cardiff has effectively been wiped out thanks to Tuesday night’s scarcely believable 6-1 thrashing of QPR.

Wins change everything, everyone is walking with a skip in their step and maybe, just maybe, the great escape is on.

Everything is certainly all to play for anyway, the season is very much alive which was one of the main concerns we had following the horror show at Ashton Gate.

Beat Coventry City on Saturday and Mick McCarthy’s side will be right back in the mix.

Helping hand

People continue to say the Seasiders just need to concentrate on themselves and not focus too much on results elsewhere, but because they’re the chasers it’s inevitable there’s an element of finger-crossing when other sides in and around them are in action.

We shouldn’t really have to be relying on other clubs receiving points deductions, either, but it’s a very real scenario we’re facing where a six-point punishment, or perhaps even 12, continues to hang over Reading, who currently sit nine points ahead of the Seasiders in the table.

Financial uncertainty also surrounds the two sides that sit alongside Pool in bottom three, Huddersfield and Wigan, so it looks like it’s going to be an intriguing few weeks both on and off the pitch in the second tier.

It’s only understandable fans are getting a little carried away after Tuesday night’s win. It was 6-1 for a start! But wins have been so hard to come by this season, so it felt extra sweet.

But we can’t afford to get too ahead of ourselves because play-off chasing Coventry City, who haven’t been beaten in their last eight games, will provide a much sterner test than what QPR served up in midweek.

But Blackpool completed their first double of the season against the Hoops and they can follow it up with a second against Coventry, having beaten them 2-1 at the Ricoh earlier in the season.

Prior to Tuesday night, that was probably the last time Blackpool had really provided a convincing performance this season, albeit the Sky Blues squad had been rocked with an illness at the time that inevitably made its way through the Blackpool players, prompting the four-game losing streak before the World Cup break.

Breaking midweek hoodoo

It went a little unnoticed amid all the hullabaloo on Tuesday night but Blackpool’s win was their first midweek victory since, you guessed it, beating QPR away at Loftus Road back in August.

You have to go all the way back to May 2021 for the last time Blackpool won a midweek league game at home, a gap of 680 days, when Neil Critchley’s then side confirmed their place in the League One play-offs with a 2-0 win against Doncaster Rovers.

To endure such a lengthy run without a midweek win seems quite bizarre given Tuesday or Wednesday night games under the lights at Bloomfield Road always tend to be special occasions. The atmosphere always seems to go up a notch.

That was certainly the case against QPR, where the noise from all three home stands was absolutely raucous. The tributes to Tony Johnson were especially touching.

Home comforts

It’s a horrible cliché but Blackpool’s home form is going to be absolutely imperative if they’re going to overturn the gap to safety during the final run-in.

Of course they need to be a lot better on their travels, having not won away since beating Huddersfield in September. They can’t rely on their home form and their home form alone.

But the Seasiders have finally given themselves a platform at home, where they’ve yet to be beaten in 2023, because it’s now seven games in league and cup where they’ve remained unbeaten.

If they remain unbeaten at 5pm on Saturday we’ll all be pretty satisfied, but we’re all feeling greedy now, aren’t we? We want another three points.

If Blackpool can cut the gap to one point ahead of the international break, with points deductions likely to be implemented in the not-too-distant future, that will give McCarthy’s side plenty of belief and confidence that they can still turn this around during their final eight games.

Blackpool’s games on their return from the break are absolutely fascinating. Rivals Preston are up first and they should need no extra motivation for that one. They need to atone for last season’s dreadful display at Deepdale too.

But then the likes of Cardiff, Wigan and Birmingham are still to come, the first too – crucially – at home.

The Seasiders haven’t impressed against sides down at the bottom this season, passing up some huge opportunities to grab three points on more than one occasion.

But if this newfound confidence from Tuesday night can be built on and if the performance levels - playing on the front foot and throwing caution to the wind - can be replicated, then Blackpool still have every chance.

Only a few days ago, it seemed as though that chance was disappearing.