Bowyer challenges Pool's players to go again

Blackpool boss Gary Bowyer wants his players to bounce back from defeat at Luton Town

Blackpool were beaten for the first time in 10 games on Saturday as Luton Town clinched a 1-0 win at Kenilworth Road thanks to a last-minute winner from Ollie Palmer.

The last time the Seasiders were beaten in the league – against Portsmouth back in February – they went on to win five and draw four of their following nine games.

That’s the sort of reaction Bowyer is expecting from his players as they look to get back to winning ways when they welcome Grimsby Town to Bloomfield Road this weekend.

He said: “I said before the game there’s still a lot of football left to play and my opinion hasn’t changed on that.

“I’ve just said to them that’s their first defeat in 10 games. So it’s a good run we’ve been on and what we’ve got to do is bounce back and that’s what we’ve done well this season.

“Anybody who has been at the game has seen an away team come and take the game to the opposition. We weren’t coming to settle for a point.

“But we have to learn from it and get better again which to be fair to the players, we’ve done that every time we’ve had something like this.

“We learn from it, we improve and we get better. I totally expect that from the players again.

“The task now is to go on another unbeaten run and take confidence from this performance.”

Last weekend’s defeat saw the Hatters leapfrog them in the league table as Pool slipped out of the play-off spots to eighth and two points behind Carlisle United who occupy the spot above them.

It was harsh on the Seasiders, who were more than worthy of taking home a point, but Bowyer couldn’t fault the effort of his men.

“We were tactically spot on with how we set up and went about it,” he said.

“We created plenty of chances so I’m pleased with the effort and the way that they’ve played.

“Obviously we’re disappointed with the outcome but we go again.”

During the game, Pool were dealt a blow when Bright Osayi-Samuel and Brad Potts were both forced off with knocks, but the Pool boss doesn’t expect them to be anything too serious.

He added: “It’s just a knock for Bright so we’ll assess that over the rest of the week and see how he is.

“Pottsy was just cramp, he was ill at the beginning of the week so he hadn’t trained and just cramped up at the end.”

Grimsby have sold over 1,200 tickets for this Saturday’s game at Bloomfield Road.

Home fans, meanwhile, can take advantage of the club’s offer of free tickets to emergency service staff and armed forces personnel.