Neil Critchley makes Michael Appleton prediction ahead of Blackpool reunion at Charlton

The recently-appointed Charlton Athletic boss was dismissed from his role at Bloomfield Road back in January.

Critchley, who was sacked by QPR last season, states there’s always plenty of pressure on managers to produce results.

"You’ve only got to look at the amount of managers who have lost their jobs this week- there’s been a few,” he said.

"I’ve been through it myself, I know what it’s like from personal experience, there is a human element to that.

"Sometimes that can involve families and being away from home- and it’s not a pleasant experience.

"Michael (Appleton) had that here last year but it’s always about responding and bouncing back to prove yourself, so he will be looking to do that at Charlton.

"I can only speak from my own experience, but I know what me and my staff put in terms of our effort. We love what we do and we’re very passionate.

"We care deeply about everything that happens here.

“When you lose a game of football it’s a horrible experience but you’ve always got a chance to respond.”

Appleton has made a bright start to life as Charlton manager, and head into Saturday’s game on the back of a 4-1 victory over Exeter City at St James Park.

"It’s a tough task,” Critchley added.

"Charlton are similar to Derby- they’re a big club in this league.

"They’ll have aspirations to be at the top. They’ve got a good squad of players and a lot of ability in their team.

"They had a really good result in the week. They play good football.

"They’ve got good attacking talent at the top end of the pitch with the ability to change- they’ve got strength in depth.

"They want to play football and we know we’re in for a tough test.

"We go there positive after Tuesday night. We could’ve done certain things better. We became too open in the second half, and we can’t afford to do that on Saturday.

"If we can defend like we did against Barnsley, and play some of the football we did against Derby, then we won’t be far away.”