Michael Nottingham: Blackpool's results not a worry because we're playing well

It means Blackpool have lost further ground on those top six but Nottingham, Pool’s goalscorer in the 2-1 defeat, is confident they will turn it around.

The full-back said: “I think we’ve played well in recent weeks – we’ve just been hard done by.

“We’re definitely not worried about anything. It was a good performance at Rochdale but we’ve just got to work on the training ground and move on to the next game.”

It was a frustrating afternoon for Pool, who were forced to play for more than an hour with 10 men following Jordan Thompson’s red card for violent conduct.

The Seasiders looked to have held on for a point, despite facing a barrage of pressure from Rochdale in the second half, but Ian Henderson broke their resistance with an 89th-minute winner.

Nottingham admits that was a tough pill to swallow but says Pool can’t afford to be too disheartened.

“It’s hard to take, definitely,” added the 29-year-old. “I thought we did well after going down to 10 men early in the first half but we’ve got to try and take the positives out of it.

“It was a good performance with 10 men, a good shift. You try to adjust and you can get pulled out of shape quite easily but I thought we did well.

“They scored in the 89th minute and we had done well up to that point.

“We didn’t really feel too threatened. I know they had the majority of the ball and a lot of the chances but I felt confident of seeing it out.

“We just tried to keep our shape well, which is what we addressed at half-time. We tried to make sure everyone knew their job. I think we did it very well but it just wasn’t to be.”

On Thompson’s straight red, Nottingham said: “I didn’t see what happened but I’d say it was a bit of petulance.

“It’s something he’s got to learn from, definitely. I didn’t see anything happen but the referee must have seen something.”