Neil Critchley keen to repay fans' support as Blackpool switch focus to tasty Bloomfield Road clash against Sunderland

Pool’s new head coach was given non-stop backing from the terraces in Tuesday night’s game against Tranmere Rovers.

But despite the passion shown from the Bloomfield Road faithful, it wasn’t enough to stop the Seasiders from slipping to a 2-1 defeat.

“The atmosphere was incredible,” Critchley said.

“I’m sure when I’ve reflected on the game and I’ve calmed down a little bit - because sometimes it’s a bit raw straight after the game - but in the next 24 to 48 hours when I’ve watched the game back I can take the emotion out of it and it can still be a good moment for me.

“It just would have been a whole lot better had it been three points, it would have been great to give the supporters that.

“Unfortunately we didn’t do that, so we have to make up for that against Sunderland on Saturday which is a great game for us to look forward to.”

Eight of Blackpool’s last 14 games have now ended in a 2-1 scoreline, which just emphasises the fine margins in League One.

“The two games I’ve been in charge of haven’t told me something I didn’t already know about the league,” Critchley added.

“It is a very close league, there’s not a lot between a lot of the teams. You only have to look at the points between teams, the same with goal difference.

“There’s not many teams that get hammered in games, it’s always very close and fine margins and the detail really count.

“Unfortunately we’ve not done that well enough.”

Despite the defeat, Critchley received praise for acting quickly after Pool’s poor first-half display.

The head coach brought Matty Virtue and Joe Nuttall off, replacing them with Jay Spearing and Armand Gnanduillet.

“Matty had been booked and when he’s walking a tightrope you can’t take that chance when you’re chasing a game that somebody would get sent off,” Critchley said.

“That was just a tactical decision, rather than anything to do with his performance.”

He added: “We decided to change the shape at half time.

“They were playing with five at the back so we asked Connor Ronan to play from the left and we put two players in the middle of the pitch in Jay and Kiernan (Dewsbury-Hall).

“We thought Armand would go up front and we would give a bit 4-4-2, which I thought made a big difference.

“We gained control in the middle of the pitch, we were getting the balls wide, we were getting crosses in the box and we were getting set pieces.

“We’ve done everything but get the second goal, so I can’t fault the spirit of the players. I thought they gave everything.

“They were well backed by the magnificent support we had, it was fantastic.”