Opposition view: Critchley pleased with 'scrappy' win against 'difficult' Cobblers

Blackpool manager Neil Critchley said his side had to 'fight' and 'scrap' their way to victory against a 'difficult' Northampton side at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday night

Marvin Ekpiteta broke the deadlock on 12 minutes before Jerry Yates sealed a deserved victory in stoppage-time as Blackpool kept themselves in the hunt for promotion.

“They make it extremely difficult with the way they play, they make it difficult for the game we wanted to play,” said Critchley. “But I thought we scrapped and fought for everything and it was a pleasing victory and another win to add to our tally.

“They’re a difficult side to defend against – they commit a lot of men forward and can overload your backline. I thought we defended their long balls, set-pieces, corners, free-kicks and long throw-ins magnificently well.

“I think we could have showed better composure at times, particularly in the second-half around the box. We were shooting when we maybe could have made that extra pass to set us free, so that’s something to work on.

“You have to compete for first balls and second balls a lot against Northampton, and if you don’t do that they can gain momentum and get on top of you. When you have the ball against them, you have to change your mindset a little bit and have that composure, and that’s the area we needed to be more effective in on the night.

“Having said that, we produced two moments of real quality that have decided the game for us and it’s a good victory which we can take into Saturday’s game at Ipswich.”