Liverpool loanee Rhys Williams delivers his verdict on Blackpool's new makeshift centre-back partnership

The somewhat makeshift duo were paired together in the centre of defence on Saturday as the Seasiders played out a goalless draw with Birmingham City.

With Marvin Ekpiteta still suspended and Jordan Thorniley out with concussion, the likelihood is it’s a partnership we’ll see again at Cardiff City next week.

“I thought we did well,” Williams told Tangerine TV.

“He talked me through the game well. He’s far more experienced than me and played a lot more games, so his vocal ability, his talking and his organising of the back four was brilliant.

“It’s really easy to play with him.”

While Blackpool were far from their best, Williams and his fellow defenders performed well as they kept a rare clean sheet.

Michael Appleton’s men had to ride their luck at times, while Chris Maxwell also had to make two or three crucial saves, but Pool were ultimately able to claim only a fifth shutout of the season and a first since the goalless draw at Sunderland in October.

While the overall display was nothing to write home about, the fact the draw brings an end to Blackpool’s run of four straight defeats should be seen as a positive according to Williams.

“It’s a good point against a tough team,” the Liverpool loanee added.

“We knew they were going to be physical and try to put crosses into the box, they’re in the top five for crosses this season so a clean sheet and a point is something for us to build on.

“I’ve come up against Troy (Deeney) in the past so I knew what he was about. He was going to try and back in and bully me but I thought with the timing and the jumps on some of the headers I did quite well against him.

“When the other big fella came on (Lukas Jutkiewicz) it was the exact same challenge, but he’s a lot more aggressive and likes a fight so we just let Kenny (Dougall) deal with it and we took the runners.”