"We'll find a way"- Blackpool striker makes pledge as Seasiders aim to repay travelling Bloomfield Road faithful

The Seasiders striker, who arrived this summer on a free transfer from Watford, insisted Neil Critchley’s troops want to repay the fans who are making the trip to their warm-weather training camp finale in Andalucia.

And it’s a determination with roots in Blackpool’s performance against AFC Fylde on Friday, with the Fletcher & Co running out 3-1 losers from their latest visit to Mill Farm.

The team flew to Spain less than 48 hours after that pre-season defeat as Blackpool’s preparations for their latest League One campaign stepped up a gear. Their near week-long stay will be rounded off with a game against recently-relegated La Liga side Cadiz at the Seasiders’ elite training facility.

Up to 100 Blackpool will be allowed in free of charge to watch the action unfold.

It might be the first time some of the travelling Bloomfield Road supporters will have seen Fletcher and the club’s four other new signings in action since their pre-season return. And with that in mind, the striker is determined to put on show - particularly after that defeat against Fylde.

Speaking to the club website, the former Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough front man said: “That will be amazing (to have fans there to support the team). That’s something you can never take for granted, people spending hard-earned money to come and watch us play.

‘We thank them dearly for that. It’s not easy in these times to obviously come over to Spain and support us, so we’ll find a way to hopefully repay them with a good, positive performance.

“It’s important to obviously build on the Fylde game, which was a little bit disappointing in terms of the result. But the main emphasis on that game was obviously to get 45 minutes and for the lads to come away from it unscathed.

“We’ll be looking to obviously improve on that performance definitely against Cadiz, who are top side. Obviously, they just got relegated for La Liga, but we’ll give a good account of ourselves, especially after the week we’ve had training here.”

Fletcher featured in the first-half of Friday night’s game at Fylde and showed glimpses of why Critchley brought him to the club during the current transfer window.

The 28-year-old said he’s fitting in well with his new team-mates - and that bond will continue to grow the more games he plays alongside them.

He added: “I think I’m adapting well to the way the manager wants me to play. I could see the quality of the lads in certain areas, where hopefully we’ll thrive this season.

“It was obviously disappointing with the result (against Fylde),  no-one wants to lose games like that. But the main thing is that the lads got what they needed out of it in terms of fitness and the confidence to get back out onto the pitch and come away from it unscathed, without injury.

“We’ll be looking to definitely improve on that performance  against Cadiz on Friday.”