Blackpool boss Neil Critchley gives verdict on Seasiders’ second half dip in Stevenage defeat

Blackpool were on the end of a 1-0 defeat to Stevenage at the Lamex Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

In a game with little opportunities, Boro won 1-0 thanks to a deflected shot from Jake Forster-Caskey inside the final ten minutes. For Steve Evans’ team, this might be a crucial three points in the quest for play-off spots at the conclusion of the season.

Albie Morgan’s attempt was deflected wide, and Ollie Norburn put Craig MacGillivray to the test in goal, but the Seasiders had a strong start to the game and were occasionally the team under pressure. However, they found it difficult to break down their opponents after the interval.

Neil Critchley, the manager of Blackpool, stated after the game: “We were strong in the first quarter of the match and gained some momentum.” It hurts to lose the way we did since we were the ones making the effort to move forward; we just couldn’t keep up the pace, even though we tried.

“In the second half, we didn’t keep the ball at the top of the pitch well enough. We didn’t have enough players to cover the strikers, and when we did have time to play, we handed the ball up too easily. The one component of the game that disappointed us was that we wanted to build more territory and pressure.

“We didn’t quite do that well enough, but sometimes when you get caught up in a certain type of game you need to have that calmness to recognise when you can bring the ball down and make two or three passes.”

“You just know the ball will keep coming back because we kept placing it on the center back’s head. Our quality failed us in the one or two instances that we managed to generate. We ought to have won 0-0, but we didn’t because of the officials’ ineptitude.