Why Michael Appleton won't be too hard on Blackpool players after Everton defeat

The Seasiders conceded four soft goals against Frank Lampard’s side as their Premier League opponents ran out 4-2 winners at Bloomfield Road.

Appleton’s men were particularly poor in the first-half, where the back four were all at sea and susceptible to long balls in the wide positions.

Nevertheless, Blackpool’s head coach said there were other reasons to factor in, namely the linesman’s failure to flag offside for Everton’s second goal.

“Getting off to the start we did certainly wasn’t in the script or what we wanted, but the officials had a part to play in it if I’m being honest, because it was a little bit comical,” he told The Gazette.

“I thought once the game settled down in the first-half there was a little bit of belief that grew, because the start knocked a lot of the players, you could tell it knocked them off their feet a little bit and a few of them struggled to cope for about 10 minutes.

“But once it settled down it turned out to be a decent game of football.

“You need a little bit of help, you need people to do their jobs properly and clearly they didn’t from an official point of view. It was a little bit late and a little bit indifferent to say the least.

“We had a bit of a wobble for a while, a few of the lads struggled to gain momentum again but once they did we looked threatening.

“The positives from the first-half were when we looked to pass the ball quicker and forward earlier and we got Lewis (Fiorini) into some decent positions. That’s how our first goal came as well, by us moving the ball a bit quicker.”

The Seasiders emerged a different side at the start of the second-half and had the Toffees on the ropes, reducing the scoreline to 3-2 at one point.

“I told the players I was happy with what we saw for the majority of it, but we conceded goals in really poor moments and they were soft goals as well,” Appleton added.

“They got a little bit of luck with the fourth goal with the deflection, which didn’t help. But when we got it back to 3-2 even I was on my tip-toes on the sidelines thinking ‘come on then, it’s coming’ and it would only be a matter of time until we got the equaliser.

“But you’re up against good opposition, so if you switch off or you have one lapse of concentration then you’re going to get punished.”

The Seasiders finalise their pre-season preparations with a short trip to Mill Farm on Tuesday night to face AFC Fylde.

That encounter will provide an opportunity for some of Blackpool’s fringe players who are in need of minutes to get another outing.

Appleton will hope to have Marvin Ekpiteta back available to him after the centre-back missed Sunday’s game through sickness.