Ian Evatt happy with draw as Blackpool struggle for chances against Wigan

Blackpool boss Ian Evatt was pleased to take a point from a game of few chances as they carved out a 1-1 draw with fellow League One strugglers Wigan.

Olly Casey edged the Seasiders in front in the early exchanges at Bloomfield Road before Owen Moxon levelled things ahead of the break.

Beyond that, neither side could find that clear moment of quality to secure a win, leaving the picture similar for both at the bottom end of the third tier.

“There weren’t a great deal of chances in the game,” Evatt said.

“We knew they were on an upward curve with the new manager bounce – I had it at the end of October. They’re energised and you can see that.

“We started the game great. Scoring from a set play was fantastic,and we looked like a threat from set plays. We changed things up in wanting to be a little more pragmatic, especially from dead balls.

“When a team is struggling with confidence, we’re not the side we want to be in possession. We’re not the side we were in December at the moment, but that’s only natural when we’ve just been beaten 4-0 by Lincoln.

“When it’s so competitive, going into my head you’re thinking about the attacking changes you can make. But when the game is so tight, it’s hard to impact it because if you end up losing it, it carries a lot of regrets – which would be more detrimental to us at the moment than a point is.”

Wigan head coach Gary Caldwell believes his side demonstrated signs of what they want to do going forward on the back of his return to the Brick Community Stadium last month.

“Whenever you come away from home, it’s always difficult,” he said.

“We gifted them a goal at the start of the game from a set piece, which we knew they’d be dangerous from, it’s all they really had in the game. The threat was all wide free-kicks and throw-ins so we had to stand up to that.

“We did that extremely well after the first goal. I thought in moments we played some good stuff, and I think we’ll get better.

“It’s the first time we’ve played that formation and there were certain players within it that didn’t quite get it, but we’ll get better.

“When we passed the ball, we looked like a really dangerous team. We scored a brilliant goal in the first half and had moments in the second half.

“We could’ve got that second but we’ll take a point on the road, and now we’ve got to back it up by winning at home. Some of our play in moments was really good but I think we can do it more.”