Neil Critchley says win over Barnsley keeps Blackpool moving forward

Posted Wednesday, April 27, 2022 by PA

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley believes their 2-0 victory over relegated Barnsley at Oakwell keeps them moving in the right direction.

The visitors opened the scoring in the 39th minute when Jake Beesley’s ball over the top found Owen Dale, who cut inside and emphatically finished.

The away side doubled their advantage in the second period when Oliver Casey rounded off a well worked set-piece at the back post in front of the visiting faithful.

Critchley said: “To keep a clean sheet and win the game, it keeps us moving forward.

“I am really so delighted that those two players (Dale and Casey) scored, they are a massive reason why we have a good group here and why we’ve had a half decent season.”

Boss Poya Asbaghi left Barnsley on Sunday after relegation, but Critchley felt it did not affect much preparation for the game.

He added: “This is where you come back to your principles and they changed their shape and personnel but then you can speak to individuals and go through stuff quickly.

“Luton played that system, so too West Brom so we know how to play against it.

“That’s the work we do every day and hope the players can take it on board and go and reap the benefits of that work.

“We switched the ball well, we got the full-backs out well and got into some really good two-on-one situations down the side, didn’t quite make the most of those situations as per usual but we played some good football.”

Barnsley interim boss Martin Devaney felt his side let in two avoidable goals as they slipped to their fifth defeat in seven games.

He said: “They were two avoidable goals, I know we haven’t created that many chances but they were really disappointing in the manner that we conceded those.

“I think the first goal is really poor, coming down the left-hand side, I don’t think we really got going down that side tonight so to concede the way we did is disappointing.

“Then the second goal, it’s happened a lot this year where we haven’t defended the back post very well and conceded from a set-piece.

“It’s a big task being relegated and the disappointment of that, we’ve got a young team and we’ve sort of had two training sessions to plan for tonight.

“It’s a difficult period for everyone, we’ll compete, we’ll keep fighting and trying our best and that’s all we can do.”