Frustrated Neil Critchley insists his Blackpool side need to learn quickly after suffering abject defeat at Gillingham

A frustrated Neil Critchley admits Blackpool need to learn quickly if they’re going to win different types of games in League One this season.
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Gillingham 2-0 Blackpool: Dominic Samuel double condemns Seasiders to another di...

It comes after the Seasiders went down to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Gillingham today courtesy of Dominic Samuel’s double.

It means Pool have now lost two of their opening three league games, both defeats coming on their travels.

Neil Critchley was left hugely disappointed by Blackpool's display against GillinghamNeil Critchley was left hugely disappointed by Blackpool's display against Gillingham
Neil Critchley was left hugely disappointed by Blackpool's display against Gillingham
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“We didn’t deserve anything from the game, we weren’t good enough,” the head coach said.

“We obviously got off to the worst possible start which gave ourselves an uphill struggle from the off, very similar to the Plymouth game.

“Our quality let us down when we had good spells of possession and until the end of the game we didn’t really test the goalkeeper.

“We had a few chances near the end but we huffed and puffed and our quality was poor.

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“When you concede at the start of the first half and then straight away at the start of the second half, you give the opposition something to hold onto, they defend in numbers, they get everyone behind the ball and they make it very difficult for you.

“It was a bad day at the office today.”

Blackpool struggled to deal with Gillingham’s direct style of play, while also often falling victim to some of their theatrics.

But Critchley says Steve Evans’ side are good at what they do and it’s down to Pool to work out how to grind out results even when they’re not at their best.

“It’s difficult to play against but we knew what to expect coming here, it’s not like we were surprised by anything Gillingham did and they do it very well,” he added.

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“In the first 20 minutes of the game, we didn’t deal with first balls very well, we gave too many fouls away which means they’re going to put it in your box and they’re going to put you under pressure.

“After 20 minutes, the game settles down and we start to get more of a foothold. We have some good chances and get into some decent areas.

“At half-time you’re thinking ‘we’re still in this game’ and if we score in the second half then we can go on and win the game. But we do the exact same thing at the start of the second half.

“It’s very frustrating and we need to learn very quickly how to win different types of games if we’re going to be successful this season.

“We have to find a way of still getting something out of a game when we won’t play well and we’ve not done that today.”