Blackpool players' promising performances

Temporary Blackpool manager Terry McPhillips is happy with the positive early signs his side are showing so far this season.
Liam Feeney was one of several new arrivals at Bloomfield Road over the summerLiam Feeney was one of several new arrivals at Bloomfield Road over the summer
Liam Feeney was one of several new arrivals at Bloomfield Road over the summer

Pool, who travel to the West Midlands today to take on Walsall, currently sit in 12th place in League One having only suffered the one defeat – the 2-1 reversal to high-flying Portsmouth.

In the six games he has taken charge of since taking over in the interim period following Gary Bowyer’s resignation, McPhillips has overseen three wins, two draws and just that one defeat against Pompey.

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The Seasiders, who are unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions, also find themselves in the third round of the League Cup.

It all adds up to a positive start for McPhillips, who is now hoping to take on the job on a permanent basis.

“In training and on the pitch, yes I’m seeing a lot of positive signs,” he said.

“In football you’re always going to see a few steps forward and the odd step back.

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“But looking back at the Portsmouth defeat, everybody was in a bit of shock that Gary had left and the players certainly were. The staff were too.

“That probably showed a bit but Portsmouth have obviously gone on to the top end of the league.

“Even for the last half an hour we gave a great account of ourselves in that game. We got the goal back and nearly had another one at the end, it was just offside.

“We are making progress, with all those new lads gelling together and getting to know each other, trusting each other. It’s been good.”

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One key aspect of McPhillips’ style of management is the squad rotation he has brought to the table, with a number of changes being made for each game.

“The recruitment this summer was really good,” he added. “We’ve signed 14 new faces so far and Gary, with the rest of the staff, made sure he got good lads with good personality. Obviously good players with good potential too. That’s coming to fruition.

“Liam Feeney was even on the list before Gary had left and I know he had spoken to his agent.

“I think you can tell by the changes we’ve made that we can change half the team and still go and do well.

“The lads have bought into that and with the cup games this week, some of the teams have made lots of changes and probably don’t have the strength in depth that we have.”