Blackpool's star reflects on 'brilliant' loan at Pompey as he plots downfall

Blackpool forward Owen Dale has reflected on his time at Portsmouth ahead of his return to Fratton Park this weekend. 

Dale is pushing to be involved against the club he called home last season. The 25-year-old spent the 2022/23 campaign at Pompey on a season-long loan as the Tangerines battled for survival in the Championship.

He was unable to help them with their goal of promotion, however he did play 50 games last term, and he returned to Bloomfield Road with a spring in his step. He will now be plotting their downfall, as he looks to play a part in inflicting a first league defeat of the campaign on John Mousinho’s side. 

“It’s a great club and I’ve only got good things to say about it and the people there are brilliant,” said Dale. 

“I think their fans think they’ve probably been in League One for too long and they’ve had a great start to the season. They’re a very good team but so are we and we’ll be looking to really take the game to them.

"I think it’ll be a great contest.”

Asked if he was surprised by their stellar to the campaign, he responded: “No. We did that when I was there. We went 10 games unbeaten I think. 

“They’ve got a lot of quality but so have we and we won’t go there with any fear or doubt. We’ll go there and try and put our stamp on the game and try and win it.”

Blackpool go into the game off the back of a 4-0 win against Shrewsbury Town. Jake Beesley came out from the cold and netted a brace as he made the most of Kylian Kouassi and Shayne Lavery’s absences through injury.

They remained outside the top six but are behind Barnsley on the virtue of goal difference however the Tykes and the teams above them do have games in hand.

A win on the South Coast this weekend would be a statement of intent and would bring the gap between them and top to just six points. 

Reflecting on the win against Shrewsbury, and looking ahead to this weekend, Dale said: "It’s a great performance for us to take our momentum on to Portsmouth. 

“They’re unbeaten and we want to be the ones to stop that unbeaten run. If we want to achieve what we’re going to set out to achieve this season, we need to be winning those games, the big games in the top six or seven.

"Those are the games we want to win and we’ll be looking to do that.”