Terry McPhillips happy with Blackpool’s latest road trip

Posted Wednesday, November 07, 2018 by PA

Terry McPhillips insisted racking up the road miles had been worth it following Blackpool’s 1-0 win at Gillingham.

Seven days after a trip to the capital for the Carabao Cup defeat to Arsenal, the Seasiders were in Kent to take on the Gills and had Nathan Delfouneso to thank for the victory.

The former Aston Villa forward headed home just after half-time to snap a three-game losing streak in all competitions for McPhillips’ side.

And the Blackpool boss admitted his side had to overcome some travel tiredness before knuckling down for the win.

“To come here, keep a clean sheet and get three points after the week we’ve had is outstanding,” he said.

“We scored a fantastic goal; it was nice to see Chris Taylor back in the fold as he’s been out for a while. He put a great ball in for Nathan to head in.

“After that they threw the kitchen sink at us. They play high-tempo, they’ve got some good players and they’re coming off the back of 4-0 and 3-0 wins here. I’m delighted to get the three points.

“With the Arsenal game last week and the travelling, the lads have been getting in at 6am, and no doubt the motorways will be shut again tonight!

“We were affected by that on Saturday, but we’ve come down here after another long journey, played against an in-form team and we’ve got a top result.

“We did better second half, that’s for sure. We managed the game well, our goalkeeper kept his first clean sheet for us, and the lads put their bodies on the line.

“I saw some tired bodies out there but nobody gave up, they put in tackles here, a block there and we played some lovely stuff.”

Defeat for the Gills means their impressive recent home form – they had scored seven and conceded none in their previous two games at the Priestfield Stadium – is now at an end.

But boss Steve Lovell was not too down-heartened.

“They scored one goal and we didn’t – it was one of those games where it wasn’t going to take much to win it,” he said.

“The windy conditions played a part but there wasn’t much between the two teams.

“They took their chance when it came to them; it’s disappointing that it came just after half-time as the last thing you say to the players before they go out again is not to concede early. It’s happened a couple of times this year now.

“We put them under a lot of pressure in the second half, their keeper made a couple of good saves, but we huffed and puffed.

“We didn’t play like we have been doing over the past couple of weeks, but the boys had a go.”