'We felt it was right' admits Blackpool boss as he explains reasoning behind naming key man on the bench against Peterborough

The Seasiders were outclassed by their opponents, as a first half goal from Malik Mothersille and a Harrison Burrows brace after the break made it a good night for the Posh, who bounced back from their 2-1 defeat to those in Tangerine in League One at the weekend.

After coming off the bench to score the winner at the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Karamoko Dembele was named among the substitutes once again for the cup fixture against Darren Ferguson’s side.

"You have to understand Kaddy is a young boy- he’s 20,” Critchley explained.

"He’s played more football than he’s ever played in his life this season. Also, the way we played on Saturday was a slight change in system, and we felt it was the right one to go with tonight.

"When you win the team is right, and when you lose it’s wrong- that’s football. When we brought Kaddy, Kyle (Joseph) and Shayne (Lavery) on against Nottingham Forest, they turned things in our favour, and we had a similar outlook against Peterborough. If it had been 1-0 with 12 minutes to go, maybe there could’ve been a moment to get us back into the game, but it’s fine margins and that’s football.

"It’s always a difficult team to pick, you have to balance it in terms of shape, personnel, players in form, players returning from injury, and the loading they’ve had going into the game. It’s not always easy, but we always put a lot of thought into that. When you lose, everyone has different opinions and hindsight is a wonderful thing.”

Meanwhile, Jordan Rhodes was absent once again as he continues his recovery from the rib injury in last month’s fixture against Charlton Athletic.

"He’s been out on the grass and doing more again,” Critchley added.

"There’s still a few days, so I’ll get a bit more of an update in the next 48 hours.”