Neil Critchley shares pride following Blackpool's comeback against Barnsley to progress in the EFL Trophy

Owen Dale’s strike in the early stages of the second half cancelled out John McAtee’s opener to pull the Seasiders level, before Jake Beesley claimed the winner.

Critchley admits he was proud of the way his players dealt with the challenge, and how they grew in confidence throughout the match.

“I love this competition,” he said.

"I’m delighted. I’m as pleased as I was when we beat Portsmouth 4-0. I’m so proud of the way the players took the game to a really strong team. It was difficult to plan and prepare because we don’t know what we’ve got coming up.

"We made a lot of changes and I think you could see that in the first 20 minutes. They settled better than us, but that’s because their team is used to playing with each other more than us.

"Bees (Jake Beesley) was up on his own- sometimes he was isolated and other times we weren’t quite connecting with each other, so we simplified our game a little bit and Albie (Morgan) took a grip of the game.

"In the second half we were excellent and scored two fantastic goals. If any side deserved to win the game, I felt it was us. It can sometimes take a bit of time for the players to find their rhythm in the game when they’ve not played for a while.

"To come from behind to win shows the character and the spirit of this group, and you can never doubt the commitment of these players.

“They grew in belief and confidence which gave us a lift in energy, so we really took the game to Barnsley. We limited them to very little.”

Blackpool return to League One action on Saturday when they welcome Carlisle United to Bloomfield Road.

"Any team in this league is capable of causing you problems,” Critchley added.

"There’s no easy games. If you don’t do the basics right then sides can come and win, so we know we’re in for a tough one, but we’ll be ready.

"There won't be a lot between us.”