Blackpool take on Luton Town at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday night.

Steve Bruce states he remains confident in his ability to get Blackpool back on track this season.

The 64-year-old has been with the Seasiders for just over 12 months, and has been able to put his stamp on proceedings at Bloomfield Road.

Last season there were some positive signs under the ex-Newcastle United boss, despite eventually falling well short of the top six, but the start of the current campaign has been a cause for concern.

In their opening nine League One outings, Blackpool have picked up just seven points - which have all come at home.

Saturday afternoon’s 1-0 defeat to Bradford City at Valley Parade was the club’s fifth consecutive away defeat, and leaves the head coach under pressure heading into Tuesday night’s meeting with Luton Town.

Despite his team being below par so far this term, Bruce still believes he can make things work on the Fylde Coast and there will be an improvement to the current product.

“I believe we were close last year and we didn’t quite get there, however, it’s been a really difficult start and there’s no denying that,” he said.

“A lot of people have needed time to get adjusted and get up to speed. A lot of the players we signed were around U21s and didn’t have a proper pre-season. It’s taken a little bit of time, but I have seen signs of improvement.

“For a good hour against Bradford, I thought we were the better side. We had opportunities just after half time where we weren’t clinical enough, but last year we were. We’ll keep bashing away.

“We were very clinical in our execution last year, and we lost three people in particular, so we’re a different group. I do believe the strength of depth in the squad will stand us in good stead.

“We’ve got back-to-back home games, so let’s see if we can kick start our season. None of us get time anymore, so I’ve got to pick a team that can win tomorrow and win on Saturday to get started again. We need a little bit of momentum to go our way.

“I’m always confident in my own belief that I can do the job. I’m the same one who won four on the spin when I arrived 12 months ago, and nothing’s really changed.

“I can see signs of improvement, and I don’t think we deserved to get beat in the last three away games.

“Luton are a good side, and they’ve got some good players for the division - and so they should have, they were in the Premier League two years ago. They’ve had a difficult start, like a few teams including ourselves, but that’s the beauty of it.”

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