Blackpool exited the EFL Trophy following a 4-2 defeat to Harrogate Town at the Exercise Stadium.

Opinion: Blackpool keep finding a way to sink further in a season of lows - and the way they started Tuesday night’s game was inexcusable.

The EFL Trophy tie away to Harrogate Town was never going to be a match that would numb the pain of the club’s form in League One.

Like earlier outings in the competition, this contest was at best going to be some form of distraction rather than papering over the cracks.

It was about damage limitation to an extent and stopping the mood from getting any worse.

On the back of Saturday afternoon’s 3-0 defeat to Reading, Ian Evatt named a team that on paper can be deemed as strong, showing the need to get his side into some sort of form.

Unfortunately there continues to be a big gap between expectation and reality at Bloomfield Road, with this evident once again.

Any loss against a team struggling in League Two would’ve been tough to take, but the manner of Blackpool’s start to the game just leaves them in a bigger hole.

To be 3-0 down after 17 minutes is unforgivable. Once again they were far too easy to play against - there was no fire or energy there to be seen.

Admittedly, two of the goals were fantastic strikes, but the Seasiders didn’t particularly make it hard for Harrogate to get in those positions.

The Royals loss was a low point, so for that to be the immediate reaction is cowardly in many ways.

There needs to be more fight - this team is lacking basic stuff at the moment, and that’s been the case throughout the season.

The second half of last month’s 3-1 victory over Cardiff City provided a glimpse of what Blackpool hitting their potential could look like, and let’s hope that can quickly become the norm over the next month, as some of the performances since have highlighted just how bad things are in this current moment.

They remain just too easy to play against. Things clearly weren’t working under Steve Bruce in the opening few months of the campaign, and it will take time for Evatt to get his ideas across, but regardless of who’s been in the dugout, the application hasn’t been good enough on the pitch at certain times.

The second half against Harrogate was better, but it couldn’t have been much worse than the first.

Hopefully the fact they were able to show a bit more character can be carried to upcoming games in order to give them a platform to build on.

This group has an awful lot to prove. It may be low on confidence, but they need to ask themselves if they are doing enough to represent Blackpool in an acceptable manner.

They’re in trouble at the moment, and they need to do everything in their power to stop mounting further pressure on themselves.

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