Neil Critchley: Blackpool players cannot dwell on QPR defeat

The Seasiders return to Bloomfield Road, looking to get back to winning ways against Reading, who have won their last two games.

Critchley’s men lost late on against 10-man QPR on Wednesday night, a game where they had an extra man for more than 50 minutes.

There’s no time to dwell on that setback though, as there’s a quick turnaround ahead of their next game.

“Reading have just won their last two games and, psychologically, they’re in a better place than they were in the last few weeks.

“We now have to go again. Saturday becomes an important game for us because we want to get that winning feeling back and we’re facing a Reading side that have hit a bit of form.

“It’s up to us to respond, so the character of the players is tested and let’s see how we respond.”

This afternoon’s game has a bit of extra spice given former Blackpool boss Paul Ince will be in the opposing dugout with his son Tom part of their squad.

The 54-year-old oversaw a 2-1 victory for the Royals against Birmingham City on Tuesday night.

It was Ince’s first game since taking interim charge after the departure of Veljko Paunovic.

He left Blackpool in January 2014 after less than a year in charge.

Under his management, Blackpool won 12 out of 42 games and, at the time of his sacking, the club had taken just two points from their previous 12 games.

Reading have an eight-point buffer to the bottom three and Ince was satisfied with his start.

“At times we played well, at times we looked nervous and that’s understandable when you’re fighting to stay in this league,” he said.

“We go to Blackpool now and we’ve got to be confident because it’s two wins on the bounce, but we can’t be complacent because there’s a long way to go.”

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