Why Blackpool's caretaker boss David Dunn says stepping into Simon Grayson's shoes puts him in a 'difficult position'

Caretaker manager David Dunn admits he doesn’t feel entirely comfortable stepping into the shoes of the man who brought him to Blackpool.
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The former first-team coach took charge of training for the first time yesterday following Simon Grayson’s sacking on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old, who has already stated he doesn’t want the job on a permanent basis, will now take charge of the Seasiders for Saturday’s trip to Bristol Rovers.

Dunn admits he feels uncomfortable stepping into the shoes of the man who brought him to Bloomfield RoadDunn admits he feels uncomfortable stepping into the shoes of the man who brought him to Bloomfield Road
Dunn admits he feels uncomfortable stepping into the shoes of the man who brought him to Bloomfield Road
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While Dunn accepts it is his “responsibility” to step up to the plate, the former Blackburn Rovers midfielders concedes it is a strange position to be in.

He said: “It doesn’t always sit comfortably when a manager has brought you in and then you end up getting asked to take the team for the weekend’s game.

“It’s a difficult position but I spoke to Simon about it and I suppose I’ve got a professional job to do.

“I’m committed to doing the best I can for Blackpool, but I’m sure there will be a manager coming in sooner rather than later.

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“Up until that point, I’ve just got to do my best to get the most positive results I can for the football club.”

Grayson was relieved of his duties in the wake of Tuesday night’s 3-2 defeat to Gillingham, having overseen a run of just one win in 12 games.

While Dunn admits the results weren’t good enough, he says everyone involved must take a share of the blame.

“It’s strange circumstances for us all really, but we all feel we’ve got a responsibility to do better,” he added.

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“I’ve only been here a short space of time and I’m trying to make my own impact, so I think we’ve all got to take a look at ourselves, take a look in the mirror and ask if we’ve done everything possible to help the situation.

“That’s all we can do going forward. We’ve got to try and prepare the team to get a performance and hopefully a result on Saturday and that’s what we’ll be looking to do.

“As coaches we don’t always get things right but we’re employed and committed to Blackpool to do our best on and off the pitch.

“It’s certainly not through the lack of hard work from the manager or any of his coaching staff and I think you can see that from the last couple of performances.

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“It’s just the players’ confidence has taken a bit of a hit, but that can change with some positive results.

“They’re a really good group, they’re an honest group, and you can tell they all want to do well for Blackpool.”

Having spoken to Grayson, Dunn revealed how disappointed the 50-year-old was about his failure to make things work in his second spell with the club.

“He was obviously very disappointed, as we all were,” the caretaker boss said.

“We felt we could have turned it around but sometimes that’s taken out of your hands.

“We’ve got to look forward now and do our best going forward, which starts on Saturday.”