Neil Critchley was honest in assessing his Blackpool side’s performance after their winless run was stretched to seven games, losing 1-0 to Derby County at Pride Park.
Blackpool, who have now also gone four games without scoring, put in a toothless performance against the Championship’s basement club, having two shots on target in the 90 minutes.
On the overall performance
Critchley believed the result flattered Derby slightly, and it was more his side’s wrongdoings that lost them the game.
Critchley opened with: “I think the scoreline sums up where we are at the moment. As the score suggests, there was very little between the two teams.
“I thought we shaded the first half in terms of performance, and in the second half, their one real opportunity goes in, and it was stop-start after that.
“That makes it difficult when you are chasing the game, and it is pretty clear that there was a bit of anxiety, lack of composure and poor decision-making, which let us down, which is a recurring theme.
“We have to remember the league were in which is tough, and there were still positive aspects to our game.”
On the lack of goals
Blackpool have scored just 19 goals in their 22 league games yet and just two during their seven-game winless run.
They drew another blank against the Rams, and their manager could not hide his concern at the barren run his side is on.
“Of course, it’s a concern,” continued Critchley. “What happens at both ends of the pitch decides the game – in the middle, there was nothing in it.
“Shane [Lavery] had a chance early in the have when it deflected right to the ‘keeper; if it had deflected and go in and we’d won 1-0, we’d be talking a lot different right now.
“I don’t think we played any better than we did today when we beat Sheffield United, so we just have to keep calm and look to improve in the areas we were poor in.
“We’re not getting battered in these games, mainly the last three where I thought we deserved more than we got from them, but that is the nature of this division.
“It is brutal, and we are getting a harsh lesson on what the Championship is about at the moment.”
On lack of experience up top
Blackpool’s struggles might be their lack of experienced figures in forward positions. Critchley quickly pointed this out when venting his frustrations after another poor performance, admitting it is up to him as a coach to get more out of his players.
“It is different for every player,” said Critchley. “We’ve got different personalities, so what I say to one player might not work with another, but that is where the skill of the coach comes in.
“It comes down to feeling, intuition and the experience of being in those situations, as we’ve got a few young players, Owen Dale, Sonny Carey and Shane Lavery, at the top of the pitch who don’t have hundreds of games behind them.
“That lack of experience can make a difference in the final third sometimes and if you look at someone like Tom Lawrence, he has that experience and quality.”