Three highs and one low as dazzling Dembele helps Blackpool to Shrewsbury victory

The former Celtic youngster opened the scoring in the first half, before setting up a Hayden Coulson header after the break to help the Seasiders bounce back from their midweek 1-0 defeat to Leyton Orient and make it nine points from a possible 12 in their last four outings.

Neil Critchley’s side have closed the gap between themselves and sixth placed Stevenage to four points, but Steven Evans’ men have played one game less.

Here’s three highs and one low from the victory over Shrewsbury:

A solid away display

There’s no hiding from the fact that Blackpool have struggled on the road this season, and Tuesday night was another example of that. They’ve not really had any issues facing the top teams, beating Barnsley, Portsmouth and Peterborough on their own patch, but the teams in the bottom half of the League One table have caused them issues.

Of course, this wasn’t the case against Shrewsbury, who didn’t give Dan Grimshaw to worry about. While their opponents weren’t up to much, the Seasiders deserve credit for the way they managed the fixture. They were firm at the back, with the defensive three putting in a good shift, while up front they waited for their key man to produce a moment of quality.

Dazzling Dembele

Dembele opened the scoring in the first half, and just showed a touch of class to compose himself before placing a shot through a crowd. It’s been said a number of times since he arrived at Bloomfield Road, but he’s just on another level.

As well as finding the back of the net, he was busy throughout and always looked like he could spark something for the Seasiders. In the first minute, a great run and a good pass through to Shayne Lavery probably deserved more, with the eventual shot by his teammate blocked behind for a corner.

He finally got an assist heading into the latter stages, with a great cross into the box proving inviting for Coulson.

Rhodes back involved

A perk for the Seasiders was having Jordan Rhodes available for the bench. While other players have contributed with goals during the Huddersfield loanees absence, no one else at the club quite has the same consistency in front of goal.

Since being forced off with a rib injury in January’s draw against Charlton Athletic, it’s felt like a long wait for him to make his return.

The CJ problem

A player who has come in for criticism recently is CJ Hamilton. It can be frustrating to watch the wing-back at times, as he’s got plenty in his locker, but sometimes it’s not always evident.

For the last few months he has been quiet on the right side, and hasn’t really been able to influence games. It was a similar story against Shrewsbury, as the space isn’t really appearing for him to release that electric pace.

Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel was introduced off the bench during the second half at the Croud Meadow, and he’s probably the Seasiders’ best option in that area at the moment. There’s no doubting Hamilton still has an important role to play this season, and things will hopefully click again soon.