'No axe to grind': Blackpool boss Mick McCarthy on taking on his former side Cardiff City

The 64-year-old was sacked by the Bluebirds in October 2021 after overseeing eight straight defeats.

It brought an end to a nine-month spell in South Wales, where McCarthy had previously helped guide the club to an eighth-placed finish during the 2020/21 campaign.

Ironically, Cardiff are now the side Blackpool are looking to catch as they bid to stave off relegation to League One.

Sabri Lamouchi’s side sit four points ahead of the Seasiders in the table ahead of this afternoon’s must-win clash at Bloomfield Road.

When asked if today’s game against his former side takes on extra significance, McCarthy told The Gazette: “I want to beat everybody, not anybody in particular.

“I did alright there at Cardiff, I enjoyed my time down there. They were a great set of lads and they treated me very well and that includes the board as well when I left.

“I’ve no other axe to grind with them other than they’re above us and we want to beat them and we want to take points off them.

“Other than that, nothing else.”

With just six games to go after today’s encounter, it feels very much like last chance saloon for McCarthy’s men, who have also played a game more than Cardiff.

When asked if today’s clash is must-win, he said: “It’s always that one, ‘must-win game’, that’s the headline. We can’t lose, put it that way.”

The Seasiders have also been handed a potential lifeline with Reading being docked six points by the EFL, dropping them to just a point above the relegation zone.

Reacting to that news, McCarthy said: “We’ve got to win a game ourselves. That’s the only thing we can do.

“We can’t effect anything. I always believe in effecting the things we can effect and that’s our performance and our results. The other things are uncontrollable.

“It might turn out that if we beat Cardiff, and let’s hope we do, it gives us a much better chance of staying up. If we can take advantage of Reading being docked points then brilliant, but we can only do it by winning games.”