Neil Critchley expresses concern to recent trend in immediate reaction to Blackpool's victory over Carlisle United

Karamoko Dembele’s goal inside the opening minute proved to be the difference between the two teams, allowing the Seasiders to keep pressure on the teams around them in the race for the final spot in the play-offs.

Elsewhere, Oxford United maintained their three point cushion in sixth with a 5-0 victory over Peterborough United, while Blackpool moved above Lincoln City following their 2-1 loss to Wigan Athletic, but have played a match more than both of the two clubs either side of them. Meanwhile, Stevenage were defeated 2-1 by Burton Albion.

Reflecting on his side’s third consecutive 1-0 win, following recent results against Cambridge United and Fleetwood Town, Seasiders boss Neil Critchley said: “As the game went on I felt like I’ve been feeling in the last few matches, after 25 minutes it was obvious we were in the ascendancy, but we needed to score again to finish off the game. You know when you’re playing away, teams are going to have moments, you can’t dominate for 90 minutes.

"If we don’t finish teams off then it’ll come back and bite us on the bum- we need to score more than one otherwise it’ll come back to haunt us.

"We played some really good football in the first half, we created some good moments and good situations. We got off to a great start with a brilliant goal, but we needed to score again. Our Achilles' heel has been our decision making and quality; picking the right pass at the right time let us down.

"In the second half the conditions were difficult, but we kept a clean sheet. They had a few moments, but not many. While it’s 1-0 you one it only takes one moment for them to equalise. The game was there for us to score some goals, and we didn’t do that. That’s four consecutive clean sheets but you’re putting enormous pressure on the team every week if you’re only scoring one goal.

“We don’t want to be over reliant on that side of things. You can see what we’re trying to do and you can see how we’re trying to score goals, but we’re not doing it well enough. Our approach play is good, but we need to then assert our authority and turn it into 2-0. We can’t keep winning 1-0.”