'It's hard to take:' Blackpool boss reflects on EFL Trophy semi-final defeat to Peterborough United as Seasiders miss out on Wembley

Malik Mothersille opened the scoring in the first half, before Harrison Burrows claimed a brace after the break to send the Posh to Wembley.

The Seasiders will need to put this defeat quickly to the back of their minds, in order to build on Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the same opponent in League One.

Reflecting on the loss, Critchley said: “It’s hard to take, you don’t get many opportunities to go to Wembley, and some of the players have never been there, so to be so close yet so far is very difficult. That’s the game, you have that hope, but tonight it’s been taken away from us.

“The challenge for all of us is to clear our heads and be ready to go again, and that’s we’re in the sport. We will do everything we can to make it exciting at the end of the season, so we’ll keep going.

"We can have no complaints about the outcome of the game. Peterborough played very well and were the better team- congratulations to them they deservedly go to Wembley. To come so far and fail at the final hurdle is hard to take.

"They slightly changed from what they did on Saturday, and I thought their technical quality in the first period of the game was outstanding, and we struggled with that. We grew into the game, and made a change in the second half that went in our favour. We were causing them problems, but left space on the break. You’ve got no other option other than to go for it in the semi-final.

"We didn’t manage to get the next goal, and then the referee took the game away from us (with a penalty). I don’t want to go on about that decision because that’s not the reason why we lost, but it had a huge bearing on the outcome. I’ve got no complaints with the outcome of the game, we weren’t at our best, but that’s something to do with how Peterborough played. Sometimes you’ve got to hold your hands up and say the better team won.

"We will do everything we can to make it an exciting end to the season. Winning at Peterborough helped, and we’ve got an important game this weekend, so we’ll go again. This group responds and has good character so we'll be ready.”