Blackpool boss Neil Critchley has admitted that he shares fan frustrations as the side’s hopes of achieving a play-off finish by the end of the campaign are rapidly dwindling.
The Seasiders have spent the majority of the campaign locked in a tense battle for the top six. However, just one win in five matches has rendered this now an unlikely possibility as Critchley’s men are sitting six points behind Lincoln City who have won eight of their previous nine league outings.
Blackpool missed a golden opportunity to continue their play-off charge on Easter Monday against a Wycombe Wanderers team who had just suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to league leaders Portsmouth three days prior.
Nevertheless, after 90 minutes of football, 12 shots and five on target, while boasting 52% of the ball, the Tangerines failed to convert a single opportunity and were left to rue missed chances.
Supporters were noticeably frustrated after the match as another chance to make a late push for the play-off places went abegging. However, it’s certainly not over yet. Blackpool still have matches against Cambridge United, Fleetwood Town, Carlisle United and Reading before the season ends, four winnable fixtures.
Speaking to the media after the game, Critchley was sympathetic to the frustrations of the fans but hopes they can get behind the team for the remainder of the campaign [quotes via the Blackpool Gazzette]:
“I understand, I get it when we don’t score a goal at home and we don’t win- we all share that frustration,” Critchley said.
“We need the fans, and we need to produce a performance that gets them behind us. They got behind us right at the end when we were on top and created a bit of momentum, but we didn’t do that for long enough in the game, and that’s on us.
“It’s up to us as a staff to remain positive. There’s lots of positives to take from the performance, but when you don’t win games and you don’t score then it feels doubly worse,” he continued.
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“We played very well at Derby between both penalty boxes, and we could’ve beat Wycombe. When we reflect and calm down, taking the emotion out of it, we’ll be reminding the players of the things we’re doing well and the things we need to improve on.
“There’s pressure on every game, it is what it is. We’ve got two home games again, and it’s up to us to play better. We’re disappointed because we wanted to win against Wycombe- we didn’t play enough good football to control the game.”
Writer’s View
The draw at home against Wycombe was a massive kick in the gut for Blackpool so late in the season as the side have winnable fixtures on the horizon which could have allowed them to eventually get ahead of Lincoln and Oxford United.
However, these games still give Critchley’s men a glimmer of hope of booking a place in the play-off semi-finals, although that’s only if they win every game from now until the end of the campaign which seems unlikely on current form.
