Why Michael Appleton felt Blackburn Rovers defeat summed up his Blackpool side

A clinical Ben Brereton-Diaz finish condemned Blackpool to a 1-0 loss in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

The striker’s 16th-minute strike proved to be the difference between the Lancashire rivals in what was a full-bloodied encounter at Bloomfield Road.

In truth, the scoreline ought to have been even greater and Appleton’s side can have no complaints with their third defeat of the season.

Despite initially starting the game well, they never looked the same side after the goal and it was Blackburn who had the chances to score the game’s second.

Were it not for some Dan Grimshaw brilliance, the Seasiders would have lost fairly handsomely.

“I was delighted with the first 20 minutes or so, the start was great with the way we came out of the traps,” Appleton said.

“But I was really frustrated with the goal to the point of nearly anger. It was naive and we shouldn’t be giving those types of goals away, especially when we were so much on the front foot and having the ball in their half of the pitch.

“The first opportunity they get to pass forward with quality we end up conceding, so that was a massive frustration.

“You could tell it hit the players hard a little bit and it took them a while for them to gather their thoughts a little bit.

“To be fair, the game sums us up as a group and as a unit. There was plenty of endeavour, honesty, effort and energy, that type of stuff, but we just lacked quality in that final third in every department in terms of the final pass, the cross, the shot, it wasn’t quite there for us.

“But that’s going to happen and I almost have to accept that because we are who we are, we will have good days and bad days and today was more a frustrating one.

“I thought we were a little bit exposed on the transition but that’s only because we were a goal down and we have to try and be brave.

“When you go behind in a game, these things can happen.”

Blackpool were reliant on Grimshaw in the second-half, otherwise the scoreline could have looked a great deal harsher. But Appleton said his side simply had to go for it.

“The reality is we have to push and try and get back into the game,” he said.

“They’ve got quality in that final third and that’s part and parcel of the game when you’re chasing, because you’re always susceptible to getting hit on the transition and the counter attack and they did it three or four times.

“I wouldn’t have done anything different though, with the personnel available we wouldn’t have done anything different at all other than making sure we defend better for the goal.”

Despite being second best for much of the game, Blackpool had two late chances to grab an unlikely equaliser but both Rhys Williams and Kenny Dougall headed wide.

“It’s important and again the fans were fantastic, they stuck with the players,” Appleton added.

The fans didn’t show the frustration they could have because we lacked that little bit of extra quality I’ve seen at times from us this season.

“Even the likes of Josh (Bowler) and Theo (Corbeanu) when he came on and the other ball players, they picked the wrong choices. Whether that’s pressure, anxiety or whatever it may be, that’s what happened and that’s football.

“We have a game on Sunday we need to quickly get our heads round and move on.”

Appleton also felt his side could have been awarded two penalties, with Dom Thompson and Jerry Yates both being fouled in the box.

But Pool’s head coach refused to use that as an excuse.

“I thought we could have had two, whether that changes things I don’t know,” he said.

“Obviously there’s the Dom one and then there’s a pretty obvious one on Jerry in the second-half.

“But for some reason we picked the wrong options tonight, it was crazy. Five or six of the lads got into great areas but they didn’t pick the right option.”