We can't just blame ref, admits Blackpool's Mellor

Full-back Kelvin Mellor says Blackpool need to work on their game management in order to start picking up regular wins.
Kelvin MellorKelvin Mellor
Kelvin Mellor

The Seasiders let a 1-0 lead slip away to Lancashire neighbours Accrington Stanley on Saturday and fell to a dramatic 2-1 defeat.

Stanley snatched all three points at the Wham Stadium with two goals in the final five minutes – the first a disputed penalty.

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But rather than laying the blame for the defeat at the hands of referee Andy Haines, Mellor insisted the players have got to take responsibility.

“We just needed to see the game out but we couldn’t manage it,” he said.

“We didn’t really play that well but we were 1-0 up with 10 minutes to go and we’ve gone on to concede two late goals.

“It’s just game management. We know we’ve made mistakes and they’ve capitalised on them to score twice late on in the game.”

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Heading into the final minute of normal time, Blackpool held a slender lead courtesy of substitute Michael Cain’s free-kick.

Yet the game was turned on its head following a mysterious decision by referee Haines to award Accrington a penalty after Tom Aldred was adjudged to have pushed Romuald Boco in the box.

Boco dispatched the spot-kick himself and was Stanley’s hero in the fourth and final minute of injury time, when he tapped in at the back post for an unlikely win.

Mellor, 25, added: “The referees haven’t been great for us and decisions aren’t going our way at the minute.

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“I’ve not seen the penalty back but I believe it wasn’t a penalty and Tom wasn’t even near the ball.

“In fact I’ve been told their guy took Tom out, so I don’t know why the referee has given it.

“But the game would have been killed off had we found that second goal. We just needed to see the game out but we didn’t.

“We just need to learn from it, take it into Saturday’s game against Doncaster and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”