Ian Evatt makes feelings clear on red card in immediate reaction to Blackpool's defeat to Port Vale
Blackpool were defeated 5-1 by Port Vale in their first outing of 2026.
Ian Evatt was left in disbelief by the red card handed to James Husband in Blackpool’s 5-1 defeat to Port Vale.
The Seasiders had been leading through Tom Bloxham at Vale Park, before the club captain’s sending off for a challenge on Ryan Croasdale at the end of the first half changed the dynamic of the contest.
Following the restart, the Valiants made the most of their man advantage, with goals from Jayden Stockley, George Byers, Jaheim Headley, Devante Cole and Ronan Curtis emphatically turning the contest around for the bottom placed side.
While the Husband dismissal was ultimately the game’s defining call, Evatt believes there were other decisions from the referee that let his side down as well.
“Obviously I need to be very careful in what I say, but one thing I’m not prepared to do is criticise my players,” he said.
“I think we could’ve managed the second half better, but the schedule we’ve had and the small squad we’ve got, the group are at their max, so going down to 10 here was the worst thing that could’ve happened to us physically.
“There’s three or four huge decisions that the referee got wrong. Danny Imray was fouled just before the sending off - it’s a clear foul.
“I don’t think the red card is a foul even, at the very most it can be a yellow card, it’s never a red in a million years. We’re in complete control, and we were managing the game, but that completely changed it.
“In the second half we came out and tried to contain them. We conceded a set play which was poor from our point of view, but the second goal was a clear foul which you see given all of the time, and the third one is clearly handball.
“I’m standing here baffled over how we can get it that wrong. I’m incredibly frustrated, and I ended up getting a yellow card - I didn’t say anything, I’m honest - if I deserved it, I’d say. He’s absolutely killed us, that’s how I feel.
“My team lost out today through no real fault of their own. I’m always going to protect them.
“I don’t want to speak about it too much because what’s happened has happened, and we have to let everyone else deal with it now. We have to deal with this in the right way, and that means getting ready for Bradford.”
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