Neil Critchley looks forward to intense and important period in Blackpool season

And with two cup ties in the coming weeks too, Blackpool’s head coach is pleased to have had a nine-day break from matches before this relentless run.

Critchley said: “It’s an intense and important period and by Christmas well have a clearer indication of where we will aspire to be.

“I have confidence in the group and believe we are more than capable of competing, and other teams will think we are tough opposition.

“With games coming so quickly and playing every three or four days, you can have two or three wins in a week and jump up the league. Then all of a sudden your whole outlook changes massively in terms of where you might think of finishing the season.

“Having a good healthy squad is important. Managing players through this period is a challenge, and it’s one I’m looking forward to.”

Tomorrow’s test looks a particularly tough one away to a wounded Posh side beaten at Crewe Alexandra last weekend.

However, Pool head to Peterborough on the back of four successive wins, even if Critchley is unconvinced their improved results have stemmed from better performances.

He added: “We are in good form and results have picked up, though I’d question whether we’ve played better than in some of the early games.

“I think we’ve been quite consistent in how we’ve performed this season, but it’s nice for the players to feel their efforts have been rewarded in the last few games.”

The Pool boss watched Crewe defeat tomorrow’s opponents 2-0 and said that result didn’t surprise him in such a competition.

He explained: “We know we have tough games coming up and I’ve repeatedly said there’s nothing in this league. All games are tough.

“I watched Peterborough play Crewe, who had lost their last three in the league. Peterborugh were top but Crewe deservedly won.

“But Peterborough are top for a reason and have good players. They score goals and are good at home.

“But they lost at Crewe and the results don’t surprise me in this league because the games are so tight.

“They are decided by fine margins and moments, and at the start of the season those moments were going against us.”

And in such a close competition Critchley believes the key to success is consistent performances.

“Earlier in the season I didn’t think we were getting what we deserved. It’s just about being consistent and improving your performance.

“If you can do that and keep a fit squad, I believe we have a good chance of being successful. But we must make sure we keep a level of perspective win or lose.

“Darren Ferguson (Peterborough boss) said they had an off-day at Crewe and have to respond. They are an attack-minded side but we will go there confident and will give it our all.

“It would help to keep winning run going. To get a positive performance and a good result at a place like Peterborough would continue our momentum. To stay in our good run and be consistent is the challenge for our players.”

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