Terry McPhillips jokes about team selection as Blackpool see off Coventry

Posted Wednesday, August 22, 2018 by PA

Terry McPhillips joked that his team selection was pure lottery as he enjoyed the spoils of Blackpool’s 2-0 win over Coventry City.

McPhillips, who has been in situ at Bloomfield Road since Gary Bowyer’s departure earlier this month, celebrated his first League One victory as the Tangerines’ interim boss on Tuesday night.

Striker Mark Cullen struck for second time in three games while loanee Joe Doodoo was also on target, leaving McPhillips to wax lyrical over the strength-in-depth at his disposal.

“Picking the team was easier than Saturday (against Shrewsbury). We stuck all the balls around in a bag and wriggled some names about and we got what we got,” he said.

“It was a bit like that as the competition was tight. We have depth in our squad and they’re fighting for places.

“I’ve had a look at us in a couple of games now and we can assess how we’ve done but also we are playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday, so it’s a shift, but it will be difficult to pick a team for Saturday now.

“We’re winning football matches and it’s fantastic. The dressing room is buzzing.

“It’s our first home win, so it’s good to get off the mark with a clean sheet, two strikers scoring both goals and lots of positive performances, and it’s going to be tricky picking the team for Accrington on Saturday.”

Mark Robins’ mood was wholly different, however, with the Sky Blues chief pulling few punches in his assessment of his team’s display.

“It was a blow. It was the poorest I’ve seen us for a long time and I’m at a loss to understand how any players can underperform as much as they did,” said the Coventry manager.

“It is difficult to accept but we have to move on quickly and get ready for another game on Saturday.

“We were poor – second-best and didn’t create absolutely anything.

“We’ve had a brilliant travelling support again, giving them nothing.

“We had a spell at 1-0 down that put us into life a bit but we then shot ourselves in the foot, and you’re killing the game by doing that.

“We didn’t pass it well, even though we have more pace in the team than we did last year. We did look pedestrian and it is unacceptable.”