Ten-year anniversary of Blackpool's promotion to the Premier League: Seasiders sweat over fitness of key members as Charlie Adam reflects on goalscoring spree

It’s 10 years since the greatest achievement of Blackpool FC’s recent history: promotion to the Premier League for a season feasting on unforgettable football at the English game’s top table.
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Over the coming weeks, The Gazette’s football writer Matt Scrafton will be dipping into the archives each day to bring you our reports from a decade ago on Blackpool’s remarkable journey to the promised land.

On this day 10 years ago, the Seasiders were waiting nervously for injury news on a couple of key players...

Stephen Crainey and Brett Ormerod were fitness doubts for the SeasidersStephen Crainey and Brett Ormerod were fitness doubts for the Seasiders
Stephen Crainey and Brett Ormerod were fitness doubts for the Seasiders
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Brett Ormerod and Stephen Crainey may not play again this season.

Ormerod has had surgery on a fractured hand, while Crainey will see a specialist this week about the knee injury which forced him off in Pool’s latest Championship game, the 2-0 victory at Plymouth.

The pair are key men in the squad but boss Ian Holloway says he will not take any risks with either in the final six games, even though Pool are chasing a play-off place.

The latest injury setbacks took the shine off the Seasiders’ solid victory against second-bottom Argyle, which lifted Pool to within four points of the top six.

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It was a hugely satisfying result for Holloway, who made a triumphant return to Home Park on his first visit since leaving the club to take over at Leicester City in 2007.

He had to take some stick from the home fans as many still haven’t forgiven him for departing.

“It’s an emotional day but it was bound to be,” admitted Holloway.

“Plymouth as a club meant a lot to me while I was there. Their fans can say what they like – I know how I felt.

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“I didn’t celebrate when we scored or when the final whistle went because I didn’t want to. I didn’t feel like it.

“I was part of that place for a while and I enjoyed my time at the club. So good luck to them.

“I have got a new job and I’m getting on with my life, which is all that matters, and I hope they can thrive in the future too.”

Pool got a little lucky in the first half, when Plymouth had the better chances.

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Holloway felt his players got caught up in the emotion of the occasion in the opening 45 minutes.

“My players knew how much this game meant to me and I think they got caught up in all the emotion swirling about,” he said.

“Plymouth pushed us hard in the first half but luckily we came in 0-0.

“A couple of words were said at the interval because basically we just had to calm down and think about where we were putting the ball.

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“We were much better after the break and I always thought we’d score, even after Charlie Adam had hit the post and had another great shot saved.

“The first goal was absolutely vital.”

Emotion apart, a sure sign of a positive sporting spirit between the teams was in evidence when Keith Southern knocked on the Plymouth dressing room door to check on the condition of an opponent who came off second-best in a challenge against him.

The Seasiders midfielder went in for a 50-50 with Pilgrims skipper Carl Fletcher, with the game just four minutes old.

Southern accidentally caught Fletcher on the knee and opened a wound which required 12 stitches.

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Fletcher limped straight off and played no further part in the contest. Southern was booked.

Afterwards Plymouth boss Paul Mariner questioned whether the challenge would have earned a red card had it happened later in the game.

But Southern revealed he went into the Plymouth dressing room afterwards and Fletcher had no hard feelings about the tackle, admitting the contact had occurred because he slipped.

Holloway defended his player, saying: “I thought Keith and Carl Fletcher both went for a tackle and I can’t believe Paul was jumping around on the line.

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“I understand it – you have to have passion – but I didn’t see many bad decisions or bad challenges.

“But we’re already safe and Paul isn’t, so I understand. We’re in that sort of industry and I wish him all the very best with getting Plymouth safe.”

Mariner, who felt losing his captain so early in the contest had a major bearing on the game, was critical of Southern’s challenge. He said: “My captain needed 12 stitches in the knee and I wasn’t very happy with the tackle at all.

“The previous Saturday at Scunthorpe, my full-back got hammered, was carried off the field and went to hospital for an X-ray.

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“His ankle was like a balloon but the ref didn’t see anything.

“Maybe there’s been a mandate from the Football League saying there are a lot of players on eight bookings and they don’t want them to miss the end of the season.”

Southern has an excellent disciplinary record and has been sent off only once in his career, in a League Cup tie at Macclesfield 18 months ago.

His midfield partner Charlie Adam, meanwhile, is now the second-highest goalscorer in the Championship after his opener at Plymouth.

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Only Cardiff’s Peter Whittingham, with 18, has been more prolific than Adam, who has 15 league goals.

Adam admits he’s a touch surprised at how many he’s scored. But the good news for Pool fans is that the Scot has no intention of stopping just yet and is aiming for more in the final six games.

“I am surprising myself a bit with how many goals I’ve got,” he said. “But at the same time I know I can get in the positions to score the goals.

“It’s just about trying to convert chances and luckily enough I have managed to do that so far this season.

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“Personally it is great to get what I’ve got but I want more. There are still six games to go and hopefully I’ll get some more opportunities that I can convert.

“To be the second-top goalscorer at the moment is great but it is not just about me scoring goals – it is about everybody. The team performance is the most important thing.

“Overall we’ve done well all season and we’ve only really let ourselves down in a handful of games.

“That’s the main thing – that the team keeps winning.

“We knew we had to win on Saturday. It doesn’t matter whether Cardiff won or lost – we have to win every game we play in.

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“To come to a place like Plymouth and win 2-0 is a good result for us.

“It pushes us up the ladder and we can take confidence going into the next two games against Scunthorpe and Doncaster.

“We are four points off the play-off places, so we’ve got to take each game as it comes and try to keep stringing results together.”