Neil Critchley 'frustrated' by Blackpool's Boxing Day fixture against Rochdale being called off at the last minute

Brian Barry-Murphy’s side were due to make the trip to Bloomfield Road on Saturday, only for the game to be postponed less than 24 hours before kick-off on Christmas Day.

It came after Rochdale had informed the EFL they were “unable to fulfil the fixture” following a positive Covid-19 test within their squad.

The Gazette understands as many as nine Dale players may be forced to self-isolate for 10 days having come into contact with the player.

The matter will now be investigated by the EFL and a rearranged date will be announced in due course.

Blackpool, who were ready to play despite having Chris Maxwell and Matty Virtue unavailable following positive Covid tests, are thought to be far from pleased with the circumstances surrounding the postponement.

Rochdale, who have since postponed their next two games against Crewe Alexandra and MK Dons, have been approached for comment.

Speaking to The Gazette this morning, Critchley spoke of his disappointment.

He said: “I got a phone call around 3pm on Christmas Day from the club doctor - it’s always an ominous sign when you get a phone call from the club doctor, especially on Christmas Day!

“My first thought was ‘I hope nothing is too wrong with our players and our squad’, but it soon came through that a Rochdale player had tested positive for Covid and they had contacted the EFL.

“At that point, it hadn’t definitely been called off but it looked 99.9 per cent called off, so that obviously meant there were a few phone calls between people within the club.

“We found out the game was officially off, so I spoke to the staff and we organised the players for the next day.

“It was just frustrating, people had planned for the game so for the game to be cancelled on Christmas Day of all days was really frustrating, because we’re ready to play.”

Critchley had previously been contemplating whether to bring his players in for training on the morning of Christmas Day, but opted not to in the end.

In hindsight, that proved to be a wise decision otherwise it would have taken the players away from their families for a game that would later be called off.

“Fortunately we didn’t train on Christmas Day,” Pool’s head coach added.

“To have brought them in on the morning only to find out the game was called off, that would have been very hard to take.

“We had scheduled to give them time off anyway, we thought that was the right thing to do.

“Obviously in hindsight it proved to be the right decision, but regardless of whether it was on or off we were going to be off.

“We came in on Boxing Day to train instead and did some 11 v 11 work on the pitch instead of playing Rochdale.”

Blackpool’s Boxing Day game against Rochdale was their second fixture of the week to be called off, after the Seasiders’ trip to Sunderland was also postponed.

That will leave Pool with a busy end to an already congested season through no fault of their own.

“There’s not going to be many free Tuesday’s left soon,” Critchley said.

“We’ve already got the Sunderland game to fit in, which we had already re-scheduled for December 22 from earlier on in the season. With the Rochdale game, that’s two games already.

“But it’s also the knock-on effect of everyone else having games called off, because it might mean they’ve already arranged another game on a week that would have been ideal for us. It then becomes a bit of a mess.

“From our side, we’re ready to play and we’re frustrated we haven’t played since the Accrington game, which feels like ages ago now.

“But it’s out of our control, it is what it is, we just have to prepare for Shrewsbury.”

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