Neil Critchley explains his late change to a back five during Blackpool’s draw with Blackburn Rovers

Blackpool’s head coach believes Rovers’ substitute was beginning to cause his side problems the longer the second-half went on.

As a result, Critchley withdrew striker Shayne Lavery from the action and introduced centre-back Richard Keogh - with the game finely poised at 1-1.

It saw Pool move from a 4-4-2 into a back five, a tactical switch Critchley believed almost paid dividends in stoppage-time when Josh Bowler was inches away from winning it for them.

When asked about the change, Critchley told The Gazette: “They put (Bradley) Dack down the middle, (Sam) Gallagher and (Ben) Brereton Diaz wide and then Buckley was giving us a few problems with his positioning.

“We felt going into the five meant we’d be able to handle him and that space a bit more but we also knew with Keshi (Anderson) and Josh at the top end of the pitch you’ve got some legs and energy to catch them on the break if they leave you some space.

“We nearly got it with Josh, but it didn’t quite happen for us. But we were quite comfortable really at the end of the game, I thought we saw it out pretty well.”