Neil Critchley relieved last-day drama will involve Portsmouth, Oxford United and Charlton Athletic and not his Blackpool side

Neil Critchley is relieved his Blackpool side will avoid any last-day drama whatever happens against Bristol Rovers today.

After guaranteeing their place in the top six in midweek, there is little at stake for the Seasiders this afternoon other than final league position, which will determine who they play in the play-off semi-finals.

Bristol Rovers, meanwhile, have nothing to play for either having already been relegated to League Two.

That means all is calm at Bloomfield Road, while Portsmouth, Oxford United and Charlton Athletic battle it out for the final play-off spot.

“We didn’t want to come into the last round of fixtures leaving ourselves open to all the possible scenarios that can happen on the last day,” Critchley said.

“We wanted to get the job done, so Tuesday’s result has just given us that little bit of breathing space.

“That was definitely welcome on Tuesday because, even though it would have been exciting, I’d certainly much prefer to be in our situation rather than go into the last round of games in Portsmouth’s, Oxford’s or Charlton’s situation.”

While Critchley has already confirmed he’ll be resting players and making changes to his side, he’ll also be wanting to claim a fourth straight win to make sure they head into the play-offs full of confidence.

“That’s the aim,” Pool’s head coach said.

“We’ve put a lot of thought into how we approach the game on Sunday because mathematically we’re definitely in the play-offs.

“However, we’ve just won three games consecutively without conceding a goal, so we want that run to continue.

“We went 16 games unbeaten, we had a blip and then we’ve got back to winning ways again.

“If we can continue that run, then psychologically, it gives you that little bit of confidence and momentum at an important time ahead of some important play-off games.”

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