Bowyer rues penalty miss as Blackpool's winless run continues

The Seasiders are without a win in six League Two games after their 0-0 stalemate at home to Crawley Town last night.

Bowyer’s men had a priceless opportunity to take all three points when they were awarded a first-half penalty, but Neil Danns’ miss proved costly as Pool were forced to settle for their fourth consecutive draw.

“It was a hugely frustrating evening,” the Pool boss admitted.

“We had the opportunity through the penalty and obviously it was a big moment for us, but we didn’t convert it and it seemed to knock us a little.

“We looked brighter at the start of the second half but it wasn’t the greatest of games.

“Their goalkeeper (Glenn Morris) has made a fantastic save from Andy Taylor’s free-kick but apart from that there’s not much else to report.

“I thought we huffed and puffed, although we never really looked troubled at the back and I can’t recall Sam (Slocombe) having a save to make.

“We’ve had some corners and free-kicks but it’s not just dropped for us.”

The Seasiders are still to win a league game in 2017 and now face a tough spell of games, with visits to Carlisle and Portsmouth in the next seven days.

Bowyer was keen to stress the significance of their unbeaten run but acknowledged the draws have to be turned into wins as soon as possible if Pool are to return to the top half of the table.

Bowyer added: “We’ll take the positives and say it’s four unbeaten.

“Although people will say, ‘You’ve not won in those four’, we’ve not lost in those four either.

“We always look at the clean sheet and another positive is getting another 90 minutes under the belt of the new players. We also got some time for some returning players.

“What we have got to do is convert these draws into wins but at least we’re fighting and making sure we don’t lose.”

Pool’s record from spot-kicks took another blow through Danns’ miss, with Danny Philliskirk and Armand Gnanduillet having missed penalties earlier in the season.

But Bowyer said he had no problem with Danns taking the penalty after he was fouled. “I’m comfortable with the courage of anyone who wants to step up and take it,” he said.

“I’ve seen him score penalties for Bury this year, so when he got the ball in his hands I had no problem with that. Unfortunately it went wide of the goal but we just move on from it.”