Blackpool skipper won't take survival for granted

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The Seasiders’ 2-1 defeat at home to Doncaster Rovers on Good Friday means today’s trip to Oldham Athletic takes on extra significance.

The Latics are currently the side that occupies the final spot in the bottom four but they still have two games in hand on the Seasiders, who are seven points clear.

Gary Bowyer’s side remain on 47 points with seven games still to play, knowing that another win or two should be enough to secure their League One status.

“We know we’re not safe yet,” Ryan said.

“I think there’s a stat going round that a team finishing on 51 points hasn’t been relegated in eight years.

“But we want to finish as high as possible, we’re not just aiming for 51 points or 52 points, just to get safe, and then throw the towel in.

“We want to win as many games as possible and get as high as we possibly can.

“We’re not just looking at safety. We want to get safe first and then kick on and finish the season well.”

The Seasiders were beaten at home for the first time in 2018 on Good Friday by Doncaster, who were indebted to Tommy Rowe’s brace.

The winger netted in either half at Bloomfield Road, with Colin Daniel’s equaliser sandwiched inbetween.

“We’re obviously disappointed with the result and partially disappointed with our performance – especially first half because we didn’t really get going,” Ryan added.

“We knew we weren’t at the high standard we know we’re capable of.

“That’s disappointing but once we got the goal back at the start of the second half, we felt as though we could have gone on and won it.

“We came out second half the better team and we were the side on the front foot.

“The gaffer just told us what we needed to hear at half time. We knew ourselves we weren’t good enough.

“We didn’t start the game as bright or as energetic as we normally do and the manager let us know that – and rightly so. We weren’t at the races.

“Second half, all we could do was come out and rectify the first half which I thought we did.

“In the first 10 minutes we had them pinned in bit but we had to keep going. But their second goal kills us.

“Both goals came via deflections which is frustrating when there isn’t a lot in the game.

“We’ve got to learn from it and pick ourselves up and go again on Monday, which is a quick turnaround.

“It’s always nice to get a quick turnaround and if we can get three points on Monday, Friday’s result will be quickly forgotten.

“We just need to recover quickly, get ourselves right and go again.”