The Brett Ormerod column: Blackpool are finding new ways to win

Every game in League One is different. Against Burton they had to knuckle down, defend well and do the ugly side of the game well.

I thought it was a decent game on Tuesday night as well against Wigan, who had a lot of young lads but were still very resilient and went right until the end.

Blackpool started off really brightly and had a couple of good chances. They had the best chances of the first half, even if Wigan probably played slightly better football.

Blackpool produced the best move of the match at the start of the second half and Sullay Kaikai scored from it.

They probably should have gone on and increased the lead. They had to defend a bit at the end but Chris Maxwell wasn’t really put under any sort of pressure in goal.

It was a good win all in all, though Blackpool aren’t producing their best performances at the minute, which is what Neil Critchley said after the Burton game.

But they’re sitting on back-to-back wins for the first time this season and that’s three wins from the last four, which is a massive adrenaline shot for them and it’s propelled them into the top half of the table.

That’s a great boost ahead of a mini break from the league, so I thought they were two really important results to get the season back on track.

You’re not going to dominate every game in the third tier – it just doesn’t happen like that. At times you’re going to need different tactics and different styles of play because some teams might come and sit in while others might be very open. You’ve got to adjust your game accordingly.

Sometimes you’re able to play all that nice football but at other times you have to dig in, do the ugly side and grind out a 1-0 win as they did in midweek.

Getting a clean sheet was a big bonus as well, and it will do the keeper and the back four the world of good.

Things definitely look to be on the up, certainly a lot better than a couple of weeks ago.

That just shows you how quickly the mood can change in football.

I think Fleetwood did the same when they won three games in a week and all of a sudden they were right up there.

A week is a long time in football and it just shows what can be achieved if you keep the faith.

They have a few players missing at the moment as well, so the squad has been utilised and they’ve had to use a lot of players.

But I thought it was a good performance against Wigan, who were a decent team. Yes, they had a lot of youngsters but Joe Garner leading the line gave them experience and he never gave Blackpool’s centre-halves a minute’s peace. You expect that from him but Blackpool came through it very well.

I must say I’ve been very impressed with Kenny Dougall, who was absolutely excellent on Saturday.

Against Wigan, you could see his legs tired a little towards the end but that’s to be expected given he’s had no pre-season.

I’ve been there myself, when I came back from my broken leg. In my first game back, I was full of adrenaline and it gets you through. But the second, third and fourth games were really difficult and you start to feel it in your legs.

The two games he’s played in have been very pacy, full pelt, but he’s coped very well.

He’s done unbelievably well to get through two 90 minutes in the space of a few days.

Blackpool move on to the FA Cup now with a long trip down to Eastbourne on Sunday. From a league club’s point of view it’s a horrible tie – it’s a long way, you’re on their pitch, they have nothing to lose and the television cameras are there because they want to glamourise the cup and smell an upset.

You just want to put them to bed and get them beat but it doesn’t always work out like that.

It will be a difficult one because this will be their cup final, so Eastbourne will fancy their chances on their own patch, especially on their 4G pitch.

I don’t know how Neil Critchley is approaching it, whether he’ll choose to rest a couple of players and bring others in who haven’t been starting recently.

But they have Leeds Under-21s in the EFL Trophy a few days later, so he’s got a chance to mix it up should he want to.