Let there be goals!: Neil Critchley looks ahead to Blackpool's clash against League One's entertainers Rochdale

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley believes Rochdale ought to be commended for their all-out-attack approach to games.
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Blackpool boss Neil Critchley relishes return to action against Rochdale and hec...

Tonight’s opponents, who hover just two points above the League One relegation zone, are among the division’s highest scorers, netting 41 goals which is as many as title contenders Hull City.

However, Brian Barry-Murphy’s side are leaky at the other end of the pitch, conceding an eye-watering 54 goals in just 27 games, unsurprisingly the worst record in the third tier.

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By way of comparison, Blackpool have scored 28 times and conceded just 26 goals.

Dale, who make the trip to Bloomfield Road tonight for their rearranged game against Blackpool, have won just one of their last 10 league games.

“You’ve just put the kiss on it, now it’s going to be 0-0,” Critchley joked when asked if he’s expecting a high-scoring affair.

Rochdale have been involved in some very high scoring games, which tells you a little bit about them.

Rochdale boss Brian Barry-MurphyRochdale boss Brian Barry-Murphy
Rochdale boss Brian Barry-Murphy
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“Great credit has to go to the manager and the group of players he’s got, because they play with a certain amount of freedom and they’ve got some really good technical players and attacking players.

“They can cause problems with you, as they’ve shown. They’ve scored a lot of goals against some of the bigger teams in the division and they’ve come back from losing positions, which shows they’ve got a bit of character and resilience from what is quite a young group, albeit with some experienced players in certain areas of the pitch.

“It’s like any game in this division, if you don’t play well, if you’re not prepared, if you don’t do the basics well, then you can get beaten and that will be no different.”

While Rochdale’s approach certainly makes for entertaining encounters, Barry-Murphy’s side could be better served tightening up at the back and grinding out results.

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Discussing that view, Critchley added: “Sometimes it comes down to your personal preference of how you want your teams to play and set up.

“Rochdale have an identity, they want to play a certain way and I have to say it’s commendable what they do.

“They can cause real problems for you and we have to counteract that. But we also have to impose our game and what we want our team to be in the future.

“We’re getting closer, or we have been, but when we don’t play and you get disruptive periods you can sometimes feel as though you’re getting further away.

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“But it’s up to us now with the games we’ve got coming up to make sure we build some momentum and some consistency, both in terms of how we’re playing and selection.”

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