Ian Evatt praises Blackpool response to Plymouth debacle

Ian Evatt states Blackpool’s 1-0 victory over Mansfield was a “fantastic response” to their recent struggles.

Niall Ennis scored the only goal of the contest as the Seasiders secured three points at the bottom end of the League One.

Evatt was pleased to see his side bounce back after a crushing 4-0 defeat to Plymouth at Bloomfield Road at the weekend.

He said: “I think with the ball we want to be a lot different from what we showed, but from where we were on Saturday, is good from the players.

“It’s a fantastic response to a lot of finger pointing and a lot of questions. Some of them are genuine, some of them we have to accept – some of them are too harsh.

“This group of players are together and we just had to remind them of what this club is and what it stands for. For all the entertainment and bright lights, this wonderful place is underpinned by a community that is together and is hard working.

“We should demand that from the players. Tonight they’ve given us absolutely everything, and without the ball we were fantastic.

“We were rushed with some of our decision making, but from where we were Saturday to what we’ve just shown there is night and day.

“We needed to win tonight at all costs and we’ve managed to do it.”

Nigel Clough was left frustrated by Mansfield’s lack of creativity, as his side failed to build on their FA Cup upset against Burnley across Lancashire at the weekend.

“I’m very disappointed with the goal we conceded, it was similar to the couple we conceded against Peterborough,” he said.

“We have to start getting back to keeping clean sheets, maybe going back to those boring 0-0s to get us a couple of points on the board. We can’t get to this 40-point mark at the moment, but we had enough of the game tonight.

“We just struggled to create, we got into some good positions but couldn’t produce a shot or a cross.

“I thought we were good in the first 20 minutes, away from home – no problem at all, but then we started getting scrappy and giving the ball away for a period which finished with them getting the winning goal.

“I don’t know why after starting confidently and creating a couple of things ourselves. I thought Oliver Irow could’ve scored, just inches wide. Then we went a little bit ragged.

“We were 1-0 down at half-time at Burnley, so the message was similar, just keep playing and be better on the ball.”