Mick McCarthy discusses the role of Nottingham Forest loanee Josh Bowler in his Blackpool side

It comes amid an ongoing debate about Josh Bowler, who was benched on Tuesday night having struggled to make an impact in central midfield during McCarthy’s first two games in charge.

The winger reacted in the best way possible by scoring Blackpool’s dramatic 90th-minute equaliser as the Seasiders salvaged a 2-2 draw with 10 men.

While McCarthy is a big admirer of Bowler’s ability, he says all players must do the ugly side of the game before they “sprinkle their magic”.

“What does ‘maverick’ suggest? I’d like to think players are part of a team, part of a shape, part of a structure that you have and they work just as hard as everybody else,” he said.

“The really good players sprinkle that magic dust when it comes around, but they’ve already done all the other stuff.

“Maverick suggests you let them run free and let them do what they want, but you don’t. That doesn’t happen.

“It certainly doesn’t happen when you’re second bottom in the league, because you’ve got to have a structure and a shape and a system you play in and then it’s brilliant when you’ve got good players who do the bits he can.

“Josh has the physical capabilities to do it and he’s showing that. The little bits he can do that others can’t, that’s what we’re relying on.”

When asked if Ian Poveda also falls under the same umbrella, McCarthy added: “It goes for all of them, each and every one of them.

“One cog in the wheel that doesn’t do it properly, doesn’t do it professionally – and I’m not accusing anyone of not doing that – but you need everybody, especially when you’re second bottom in the league. You need them all.

“The really good players, the talented players, we need them all to buy into what we’re trying to do. Get back, defend and then be the heroes, score the goals and all of the lads with the broken noses and the cut legs and all that all benefit from it.

“It’s got to be a collective, otherwise you get beat.”