Mick McCarthy on Blackpool dropping to bottom of the Championship and the gap to Cardiff City

The Seasiders’ goalless draw against Rotherham United on Saturday, coupled with Wigan Athletic’s win against Huddersfield Town, saw McCarthy’s side slump to 24th place.

However, despite the frustrating results against both Rotherham and Huddersfield Town last week, they’re actually closer to safety than they were prior to the back-to-back home games.

That’s because Cardiff City, who have lost their last five on the spin, are now only one point in front.

“We’re actually in a better position points wise,” McCarthy said after Saturday’s stalemate.

“Do you know what? Bottom goes down, second bottom goes down and third bottom goes down, so it doesn’t really matter now.

“All we can do is keep pecking away, keep picking up points, doing our best. Like I said, it might be May 8. If we get out on May 8, that would be brilliant and that’s what we’ve got to aim at.

“Just because we’ve gone bottom, it’s not over. We’re closer to getting out than we were before.”

Despite McCarthy opting to look at the positives, confidence is understandably low among his squad given Blackpool haven’t won in their last 13 league games – a run that stretches back to October.

The Seasiders now have just 16 league games remaining to pick up the points they need to remain in the second tier.

When asked about if his players need picking up, McCarthy said: “We’ve just drawn at home…

“I’m not bothered what the dressing room is like after a game, it’s what it’s like when we see them in the morning.

“We need to have a smile on our faces. The ones who are training train and the ones who are recovering recover and then we need to get ready for Wednesday (when they face Swansea City away).

“They’re a very possession-based team. I’ll worry about that when I’ve had a look at them.

“We’ll be in on Sunday morning. The lads will be recovering, we’ll be going through the game then later on we’ll be going through Swansea.”