Stephen Dobbie's message to Blackpool fans ahead of first home game against Wigan Athletic

The club’s former forward has taken interim charge of the Seasiders until the end of the season following the recent departure of Mick McCarthy.

Despite only having one day to prepare the team, the 40-year-old oversaw an improved display against promotion-chasing Luton Town on Easter Monday before Pool eventually slipped to a third straight 3-1 defeat.

Maintaining Blackpool’s Championship status is going to be an uphill battle for Dobbie given they’re seven points adrift of safety with only five games remaining.

But the club’s former striker is up for the challenge, starting with Saturday’s bottom-of-the-table clash against Wigan Athletic, where Dobbie will have far more time to prepare his team.

“It was a late call (getting the job) so it was a case of getting up early in the morning and watching a lot of their games,” Dobbie said.

“The boys took it on fantastic though. In the first-half they implemented what we wanted and now the work starts towards Wigan.

“Let’s see what we can do at home in front of our fans, I’m looking forward to it.

“It was fantastic support at Luton. Even when we went 2-1 down…they saw how much the boys were giving.

“We tried to freshen it up a little bit in midfield with Kenny (Dougall) and Callum (Connolly) coming on and they finish it off with the third.

“But the fans were fantastic coming down, but they’ve always been like that when I’ve been at the club.

“I’m looking forward to a rocking Bloomfield Road on Saturday.”