Blackpool boss Michael Appleton on Cardiff City draw, penalty controversy and Gary Madine

Gary Madine came back to haunt his former club as the Seasiders managed to avoid a damaging defeat to their relegation rivals.

Pressure looked to be mounting on Pool’s head coach when his side dished up a woeful first-half display, where they were fortunate to only go in a goal down.

But the visitors improved in the second-half in South Wales and levelled when Madine headed home from Ian Poveda’s cross.

Addressing his side’s display, Appleton said post-match: “I could have made a few changes after 20 minutes and I was close to doing that.

“I wasn’t particularly happy at half-time, I made my views very clear to a few players and got the reaction I wanted and needed.

“But listen, they showed the reaction I wanted in the second-half. They were far more aggressive, showed far more belief and I thought the substitutes were great.

“Whether that was Ian (Poveda) coming on at half-time or CJ (Hamilton) or Bees (Jake Beesley) they made a real impact.

“I was delighted they got at least something of what they deserved because we took a point out of the game but in terms of moments and chances in the second-half we arguably could have nicked three points.”

When asked to put his finger on what was wrong in the first-half, Appleton added: “It was just a lack of aggression, it was almost a fear of the space in behind.

“They had a lot of athleticism in the team and a lot of energy, which is something I spoke about on Friday. They have a bit of pace at the top end of the pitch as well.

“But sometimes players can get obsessed with space in behind and you forget to apply pressure on the ball.

“We rectified that at half-time by going 4-4-2 by playing forward a little bit earlier and be a bit more aggressive and on the front foot and it seemed to work.”

Cardiff, who remain two points ahead of Pool in the table, felt they should have had a penalty in the first-half when Callum Robinson went to ground after taking the ball past the returning Dan Grimshaw.

But referee Josh Smith instead flashed a yellow card in Robinson’s direction and awarded the visitors a free-kick for a dive.

“Who knows (if it was a penalty)? I’ve not had a look,” Appleton said.

“I will obviously take a look but the referee has made a decision and he seemed pretty clear straight away because he made the decision very quickly.

“I will leave that for them and the referee to debate.”