Bowyer wants Blackpool's players to be confident

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The Seasiders welcome Fleetwood Town to Bloomfield Road on the back of two superb wins against Bradford City and Northampton Town.

Pool ran in eight goals in those two games, while also keeping two clean sheets and that, according to Bowyer, sets up Saturday’s derby perfectly.

“I think it’s a great game, it’s an exciting local derby,” Bowyer said.

“We’ve got to recover quickly, recover well, then go into the game with a lot of confidence and belief.

“To have scored eight goals in our last two games and to have kept two clean sheets, that’s a fantastic return from the players.

“But there’s still 12 points left to play for and I want to get as many as possible, so there will be no slacking or letting off from our side of it, that’s for sure.”

The two sides have put any relegation fears behind them to climb up into the top half of the table, with Fleetwood in 11th and Blackpool one place further back.

“John Sheridan has done fantastically well,” Bowyer added.

“He’s built himself a reputation of being a firefighter if you like. He’s done it at Oldham a number of times.

“I think Oldham were down at one point under David Dunn, but he came in and kept them up. He’s done it before for them as well.

“So he’s gone into Fleetwood and they’ve enjoyed a fantastic run.

“He’s got a good group of players for sure, they were in the play-offs last year so we’re aware of that.”

The Seasiders will be looking to secure the local bragging rights after a goalless draw at Highbury earlier in the season.

It was a fairly dull game ruined as a spectacle by the weather, but Bowyer wouldn’t be surprised if Saturday’s game is also a tight affair.

He added: “I think we had the best chance in the game at Highbury with Sean Longstaff’s effort that was well saved.

“It was a cagey affair, but hopefully we can take the confidence from the last two home games.”