Neil Critchley on Blackpool's hard-fought win against Millwall and Luke Garbutt's injury

Shayne Lavery’s second-half strike, his 10th of the season in league and cup, ensured a 1-0 win at Bloomfield Road.

Critchley, whose side have won back-to-back games in the Championship, felt his troops just about deserved the victory.

“It was really hard fought and it wasn’t particularly pretty at times, but we got the job done,” he said.

“I felt if any team deserved to win the game on the balance of chances it was us.

“We’ve followed the Hull result with another 1-0 win, so it’s always pleasing when you win and keep a clean sheet.

“In the first-half, I felt we worked the goalkeeper more than they worked ours and then we started the second-half on the front foot and scored on top.

“Other than Grimmy making one save, we saw the game out relatively comfortably. But you know when it’s only 1-0 they can throw men forward and get balls into the box. But generally we protected the goal really well.

“The players give me everything, they give the club everything and the fans, who were fantastic again. They got right behind the team.

“As I’ve said on many occasions, any win in this division is hard fought and you have to be right at it for 95 minutes and today we were.”

The pivotal moment came 10 minutes into the second-half, when Lavery drilled home into the bottom corner after CJ Hamilton had been thwarted by goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski.

On Lavery’s match-winning strike, Critchley added: “He’s a constant menace, he causes problems.

“At half-time, we just said ‘come on, give us that little bit more’, get a few more crosses in, get the ball forward more, create some momentum in the game, get the North Stand behind us.

“We started the second-half really well and Gary (Madine) has played a lovely ball behind the defence. It’s hard to get behind Millwall’s defence, particularly in a back five.

“But CJ has used his pace, the major asset he’s got, and he’s had a big hand in the goal.

“It was a centre-forward’s finish from Shayne. I couldn’t see it clearly from where I was, it looked like he hit it and maybe mishit it a little bit. But he found the bottom corner, so I’m delighted for him.”

Critchley, meanwhile, revealed Luke Garbutt was withdrawn with a knee complaint during the second-half.

The defender will now be assessed over the next 24 to 48 hours but is likely to require a scan to reveal the full extent.

It leaves the Seasiders without a recognised left-back in their squad with James Husband and Reece James already sidelined.

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