Simon Grayson wants to start another unbeaten run at Blackpool

Simon Grayson has challenged his Blackpool players to embark on another unbeaten league run.
Simon Grayson was critical of Blackpool's defending against CoventrySimon Grayson was critical of Blackpool's defending against Coventry
Simon Grayson was critical of Blackpool's defending against Coventry
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Grayson wants to see a reaction from his team, who will be looking to get back to winning ways when they welcome MK Dons to Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

“It’s how you react to defeats like this,” the Pool boss said. “We’ve had a real good run of results but this is a shot across the bows.

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“But the question is: can we go and start another unbeaten run?

“We have the perfect opportunity at home to MK Dons, and if we do the basics right we have the chance to start another run.

“That’s what I’ve asked the players to do because we had given ourselves a platform with the results before Coventry.

“This was a disappointment but it’s our first defeat, so we will get back to it, work hard on the training pitch, cut out those errors and start another good run.”

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It could have been all so different for the Seasiders, who let slip a two-goal lead at St Andrew’s and lost 3-2, Callum O’Hare scoring the winner in stoppage-time.

Grayson added: “We were trying to win the game at 2-2 but again we just didn’t do the basics right, so it was a frustrating afternoon for us.

“From seeing us play so well at times to then doing the basics so incorrectly, we have to learn from situations.

“I think you can look at both individual errors and our shape. We didn’t deal with the first ball well enough and then we don’t react to the second ball when it goes loose.

“Did we stop the crosses? Probably not.

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“But we’ve got some good defenders who have dealt with things like that quite easily all season. It’s a reminder that we need to keep working .

“While the disappointment among the Pool squad was evident, Grayson says his players shouldn’t feel too disheartened.

“It’s a shot across the bows a little bit but we will learn from these lessons,” he said.

“We played really well in the first half. We looked really compact defensively, and going forward we knew we would enjoy playing on the counter- attack with our pace.

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“Second half we didn’t pass the ball as well but they’re a decent team, who pass it and move it around quickly.

“But if they had gone and scored their three goals with intricate play, then I wouldn’t have been as disappointed as I am.

“But with three big centre-backs, we should have dealt with things better and dealt with the crosses in the first place.”