Neil Critchley praises Blackpool's response to going a goal down as Jerry Yates rescues a late point against Hull City

Jerry Yates struck nine minutes from time to rescue a point for the Seasiders, who had earlier trailed to Mallik Wilks’ strike at the start of the second half.

Blackpool’s goal came four minutes after Hull had been reduced to 10 men, Reece Burke the man to be shown a straight red after bringing Ben Woodburn down when clean through on goal.

Critchley’s side ploughed ahead in search of a late winner that would have completed a league double over the second-placed Tigers, but they were eventually forced to settle for a point.

“I thought it was two good teams on the pitch,” Pool’s head coach said.

“We had to do some defending in the first half and I thought we did that well. We created a few opportunities ourselves but there weren’t a great deal of clear-cut chances created by either side throughout the whole game.

“Second half, our response to going a goal down was excellent. We played some good football and showed some better quality than we did in the first half and we had more belief.

“The sending off has an effect on the game but we went right until the end of the game to try and get the three points. But I’m pleased with the performance.”

Hull’s sending off came about after Burke had slipped on the edge of his own box, allowing substitute Woodburn to burst through on goal.

The Tigers couldn’t have had any complaints with the decision, which saw them face a barrage of pressure in the final moments.

“Ben actually said he was going to square it because Jerry was coming on the outside, but the boy knew exactly what he was doing and it was a bit of an unfortunate incident for him. But he knew what he was doing,” Critchley said of the sending off.

“You don’t get a goal, you don’t get a penalty, it doesn’t seem quite right sometimes, but fortunately we scored not long after.

“We didn’t quite create a real clear opportunity to win us the game even though we were on the front foot. Jordan Gabriel got in once but it didn’t quite fall for us unfortunately.

“I never question these players in terms of their character or the resilience they’ve shown this season. We’ve scored a few late goals.

“The response to going a goal down away from home against a team as good as Hull, I thought it was excellent.

“We started to believe in ourselves even more, play better football and control the game. I felt even though it came through the sending off, we were the team on the front foot at that moment in time and we were good for the point.”

Blackpool’s point comes a month after beating Grant McCann’s side in dramatic circumstances last month, CJ Hamilton striking in stoppage-time to seal a 3-2 win.

To take four points from the two games against Hull pleases Critchley, although he was left wanting more.

“I think they’re really strong, they’ll be up there come the end of the season,” Critchley added.

“They’ve got really good players, good attacking players who have a good way about them, so to take four points from them I have to be pleased.

“It could have been six, maybe. That might just be me being a little bit greedy though.”

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