Blackpool need fighting spirit says James Husband

It comes after the Seasiders’ disappointing 2-0 loss at Gillingham on Saturday, a second defeat in their first three league games.

Neil Critchley’s side fell victim to Gillingham’s more direct style of play and struggled to fashion clear-cut chances despite enjoying the vast majority of possession.

“There was no surprise in how they played,” Husband said. “The game was quite similar to the one at Plymouth (a 1-0 defeat on the opening day).

“We just need to be more aware and more wise, and not be as naive as we were for the first 20 minutes.

“After 20 minutes we’ve controlled the game again but we knew that was going to happen, so we can’t say we’ve played well and do this every week.

“This league is about fighting and scrapping, and that’s what we need to do.

“We have a confident group of individuals but we need to learn to become confident together.

“It’s going to take a while because we’ve obviously had a lot of changes in the summer. We need to work out how we’re going to approach certain games but we probably struggled with that on Saturday.”

Husband, who returned from injury as a second-half substitute, says some of his less experienced teammates must learn fast.

“We’ve spoken like every dressing room would after a game,” the 26-year-old added.

“We’ve got a few more experienced boys in there who have seen it and done it, probably seen a lot more than some of the younger boys have.

“We just need to learn from the lessons we’ve had in the past, not keep doing the same things over and over again.

“That’s what this league is going to be – it’s going to be a fight, so we need to learn very quickly, otherwise this is going to happen every week.”

Husband remains confident the Seasiders have more than enough quality to enjoy a successful campaign.

The defender added: “It’s been well-documented that we’ve got some serious talent in there. It’s one of the best dressing rooms I’ve ever been in in League One.

“But it’s all well and good saying that – it’s a results-based game and we have to get three points on the board. We didn’t on Saturday, so that’s that.”