Neil Critchley: Easter wins so timely for Blackpool side full of confidence

The Seasiders saw off Gillingham 4-1 on Monday to cement their spot in the play-offs.

Critchley’s side, who were also 2-0 winners against Swindon Town on Friday, now sit four points clear of seventh-placed Charlton Athletic with a game in hand.

“Six points and back-to-back wins makes a big difference and it keeps our momentum and form going,” Critchley told The Gazette.

“We’re full of confidence and I think you can see that because we looked like a really good football team against Gillingham, both in and out of possession.

“Those six points over Easter is a welcome addition to the points we’ve got.”

Pool had gone into the game knowing Gillingham were only two points behind them but victory has established a gap to the chasing pack.

“I know they went into the play-offs last Wednesday when they beat Wigan, but we jumped above them after beating Swindon on Friday,” Critchley added.

“We knew it was a big game for them because they’ve played a few games more, so it was almost a must-win game for them.

“We knew they would be highly motivated and I think you could see that right from the start. They tried to put us under pressure at every opportunity they got but I thought we dealt with it apart from one occasion.

“The longer the game went on, we played some really good football and scored goals at important times.

“To win in the manner which we did, I couldn’t be more proud of and pleased with the players. To score four goals against a team like Gillingham, we made a difficult game look quite easy for us.”

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