Ian Evatt fumes at Blackpool’s dark day’

Ian Evatt delivered some home truths to his Blackpool players after a “dark day” as the struggling Seasiders were thrashed 4-0 at home to Plymouth.

The hosts conceded three first-half goals – and two in stoppage time – before ending the game with 10 men after James Husband was shown a straight red card for kicking out at his opponent.

A furious Evatt did not appear for his press conference for over an hour after the full-time whistle before revealing the extent of his debrief with the players.

“We’ve been in there for over an hour and for the first time since I’ve been here, we spoke some clear home truth,” Evatt said after a fourth game without a win in League One.

“It’s a dark day. It was incredibly disappointing from minute one. We got rocked by the first mistake we made, and the theme of this season so far has been recovery.

“When we start well and we’re having positives that snowballs. But when people make mistakes or we concede we struggle to recover.

“I don’t think it’s a care thing. In many ways they care too much. They go into their shell.

“I played in a team here that conceded loads of goals, but the one thing that team had was a desire to outscore the opposition, and it also took offence to people scoring against us.

“It affects us and rocks us and makes us shy away from what we should be doing.

“Today wasn’t a day where we were technically outplayed. We didn’t do the basics anywhere near well enough. Running, competing, and winning duels are the basics of football.”

Alex Mitchell, Aribim Pepple and Malachi Boateng all scored in the first half, before Caleb Watts found the back of the net after the break.

Husband saw red late on, kicking out at Xavier Amaechi after being fouled by the Argyle substitute.

Tom Cleverley felt Plymouth’s dominant display showcased the best version of his side.

“I’m very pleased, I thought in every aspect of the game – in possession, out of possession, set plays, and the basics – we were dominant today,” he said.

“We were the best version of ourselves.

“I thought it was thoroughly deserved, there’s been a lot of hard work going into sustaining performances, but when you look at your bench and it’s got the depth it had today, that also helps.

“I thought the players were outstanding. All the goals came from second or third phase throw-ins or set plays, it’s pleasing we can have the dimension, but I thought we deserved a goal in open play for some of our quality – we were excellent to a man. It’s right up there.

“It’s pleasing to see the work we’ve done on extending leads and not defending leads has paid off today.”