Blackpool striker Cullen out to shatter Hatters' hopes

The sides go head to head at Bloomfield Road on Saturday hoping to consolidate their places in the play-off zone.

And Cullen, who bagged only his second goal of the season in last Saturday’s 2-0 win at Stevenage, is hoping to start the game as he returns to familiar territory.

He said: “It would be a dream to score and I’d love to play. It’s up to the manager to pick the team but I’ll be ready if called upon.

“I know a few behind the scenes at Luton and there are still one or two in the squad I know, so it will be nice to see them. It’s always nice to see people you achieved something good with.”

The 24-year-old scored 21 times in 71 appearances during two prosperous seasons at Kenilworth Road, helping the Bedfordshire outfit to win promotion to the Football League in 2014.

Luton are now flying high in League Two and sit two points ahead of the Seasiders in fifth place.

But Cullen, who left the Hatters for Bloomfield Road in June last year, says the Blackpool squad will go into the game full of confidence.

He added: “You’ve seen some of the performances we’ve put in against teams at the top, like Doncaster and Portsmouth (who they beat 4-2 and 3-1 respectively).

“We’ve beaten them and we’ve beaten them quite easily at times.

“I think we can beat anyone on our day, and I’m very confident that if we keep our mentality right for the rest of the season we’ll achieve something at the end of it.”

The striker came off the bench to score late on at the Lamex Stadium last weekend, his first goal since Pool’s 1-1 draw at Barnet in August.

Fellow substitute Bright Osayi-Samuel opened the scoring at Stevenage, bagging his first-ever professional goal with a calm finish.

Cullen said: “I’m over the moon for Bright because he works hard and you can tell he’s got bags of ability.

“It was just a case of putting it into practice and for him to get his first career goal is fantastic.

“Hopefully he enjoys the moment and can build on it.”