Mick McCarthy's verdict on Blackpool's survival chances as gap to safety grows

The Seasiders are now four points adrift of safety following their 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night.

McCarthy’s side were only two points away from Rotherham United in 21st prior to kick-off, meaning they could have climbed out of the bottom three for the first time since November with a win and with other results going their way.

But the Millers picked up a surprise victory against Sunderland while both Birmingham City and Stoke City also claimed three points.

Reflecting on Blackpool’s position in the league table, McCarthy told The Gazette: “It’s a lot worse now than it was before we started the day, that’s for sure.

“But as I said when I came in, it might be a case of keep pecking away. If we go down to Reading and win and the others lose we’ll be back to the same position and that’s all you can do.

“There’s nothing more than you can do, just keep plodding away and try and pick up results but we’ll have to play better than we did against Blackburn, that’s for sure.”

The Seasiders now have just 13 games remaining, starting with Saturday’s trip to Reading to face former boss Paul Ince.

Pool have averaged 0.96 points per game so far this season, which will leave them on 44 points if that trend continues for the remainder of the campaign.

The biggest disappointment is that some much-needed positivity had been injected into the club following the weekend win against Stoke, which was Blackpool’s first victory in 15 attempts in the league.

But the Seasiders squandered that new-found momentum by delivering a lacklustre and below-par display at Ewood Park.

“We are where we are because that’s what happens,” McCarthy added.

“You try and get a really good buzz around the place and from Saturday there has been that, there has been a lift in spirits.

“The message before we went out (against Blackburn) was ‘don’t waste Saturday’s performance and result’ and unfortunately I think we have.”