'We will improve:' Neil Critchley's immediate reaction to Blackpool's opening day defeat to Crawley Town

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Junior Quitirna, with help from a Matthew Pennington deflection, were both on the scoresheet for the Red Devils, as the bookies’ relegation favourites gave a good account of themselves on their League One return.

Ashley Fletcher was able to mark his Seasiders debut with a goal off the bench, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation.

Away form was a major problem for Critchley’s side last season, but the Blackpool boss insists the loss at Broadfield Stadium wasn’t a repeat of past problems.

“I’m not looking at last season, this is a new season - it’s a new start,” he said.

“I’m just concentrating on today and what we can control. Other than a couple of moments that went against us, it was a different type of performance.

“I thought we started the game well in the first 10 minutes, we were on the front foot in their half of the pitch, but then the first moment they got to our goal they scored.

“We weren’t aggressive enough in the middle of the pitch, they played through us too easily - which didn’t happen in many moments.

“We responded well, but then we didn’t deal with a ball in the middle of the pitch and they broke. They had a big slice of fortune, Penno (Matthew Pennington) actually defended well, but it’s a cruel deflection.

“We had a few moments ourselves, we hit the outside of the post rather than the inside, and you need those things to go for you.

“In the second half we were excellent, we dominated the game. I felt we deserved the goal, and we deserved to get something.

“When you play against a team that’s just been promoted you know the crowd is going to be behind them, and they’re full of momentum. We wanted to take the game to them, there was only one moment when we didn’t defend well enough.

“They were clinical, and we weren’t - that’s what decided it.

“It’s one game, there’s 45 to go. I was encouraged by long periods of what we produced. I know we’ll improve and get fitter.”