Neil Critchley reflects on Blackpool's recent League One results ahead of cup action

The Seasiders endured a poor end to 2023, with back-to-back away defeats to Burton Albion and Port Vale leaving them off the pace in the hunt to finish in the League One play-off places.

While not being at their best on New Year’s Day, Critchley’s side were able to claim a 2-0 victory over Lincoln City- with Olly Casey and CJ Hamilton both on the scoresheet at Bloomfield Road.

Blackpool will now take a short break from league action, with their next two fixtures coming in the FA Cup and the EFL Trophy.

“We’re just taking each game as it comes- I know it’s an old cliche,” Critchley said.

"We’re going to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup next week, that’s brilliant. The third round is an exciting part of the football calendar. We’re obviously underdogs going into that game; Premier League squads are in a different stratosphere, but it’s a great challenge for us.

"We’ve then got a EFL Trophy last 16 game, so we’re still in both competitions and hopefully it’s the same in 10 days time.

"It was important for us to get that feeling back in the dressing room after the last week that we’ve had.

"It’s not been nice, and we know we could’ve done better in both of those Christmas games, but you can’t fault these players for their effort and perseverance.

"When we’ve got everyone behind us, and there’s a connection together, then we can do really good things.

"The players deserved that winning feeling against Lincoln as things have gone against us. We could’ve done better in certain moments, but it was never down to a lack of application. We’re a work in progress, a lot has gone on at this football club in the last 18 months. We’ve made a lot of changes and things take time.

"We’ll keep evolving and trying to improve. We’ll stick to our beliefs and support each other. There’s plenty of time left this season and I think we can go on a good run.”