Neil Critchley's immediate reaction to Blackpool's victory over Northampton as he credits Portsmouth impact

After watching Marvin Ekpiteta get denied by millimetres during the first half, Matthew Pennington ensured his shot found the back of the net following the restart, with the centre back’s goal proving to be the difference.

Prior to the game at Sixfields, the Seasiders had failed to win a midweek league game on the road this season, but will now be hoping to build on a vital three points after overtaking Oxford United in seventh, following a heavy defeat for the U’s away to Bolton Wanderers.

"There were over 300 Blackpool fans here so it was nice to score in front of them and give them three points- for them to travel all this way I’m delighted because over the course of the season we haven’t picked up the points we should’ve,” Critchley said.

"We scored from a set piece which was nice because we worked on that last week, it’d been something we had highlighted that we wanted to improve.

"I thought we played well and we looked like a good team with belief and arrogance- we had control of the game. They changed their shape and paid us a bit of respect. With and without the ball we looked really assured, playing with 10-men on Saturday gave us the belief that we could grind out a draw or hold onto a lead to get three points.

“It was controlled and composed. We’ve only lost one in six, and kept three clean sheets on the bounce. It’s also three wins away from home in four, so maybe people might stop talking about our away record, even though it could be better. We’re in good form and we’re building momentum, but tonight is gone and there’s eight matches to go. It’s probably taken us too long to get to this point but there’s still time to go.

“All we can do is win games and concentrate on the next one. We’re going to go for it, and see what we keep doing. Things can change so quickly with three games in a week, if you win back-to-back games it only takes one team to lose.”