Neil Critchley desperate to end Blackpool's encouraging first season back in the Championship on a high

The Seasiders head to London Road on Saturday (12.30pm kick-off) for their final game of the season against a Peterborough United side that have already been relegated.

Posh came up with Blackpool from League One last season but haven’t fared as well as Neil Critchley’s side in League One.

Having finished seven points ahead of Pool in the third tier last term, they’re now 24 points behind in the Championship.

Safety has never looked in doubt for the Seasiders, who will finish on the cusp of the top half of the table with a victory on Saturday.

“Whatever happens from now, to get to 60 points in this division has been a good season,” Critchley said.

“But we wanted to win against Derby and we want to win against Peterborough next weekend.

“We were on a good run and I wanted us to end the season unbeaten, but the defeat to Derby has stopped that a little bit.

“But the players have been outstanding, all of them. They’ve given everything, it’s been a massive contribution.

“Against Derby, we were on top, we were the better team. They gave everything, the players.

“But sometimes things don’t go right for us, but it’s certainly not for the want of trying. That’s why we are where we are.”

Once tomorrow’s game is done and dusted with, attention will inevitably turn to summer recruitment and contract deliberations.

EFL clubs only have a few weeks to make up their minds about which players they’d like to retain and the ones they want to release.

Clubs must notify players as to whether or not they are being retained by the third Saturday of May, which falls on May 21 this year.

However, most clubs normally publish their retained lists sooner than that.

Clubs involved in the play-offs are granted an extension and have until four days after their last match to submit their decisions.

The likes of Stuart Moore, Jordan Thorniley, Ethan Robson, Grant Ward, Keshi Anderson and Josh Bowler are all out of contract this summer.

Ward aside, the Seasiders do hold 12-month options on all of those players.