The Imps will be looking to extend their unbeaten run when the Seasiders visit Sincil Bank tomorrow.
Neil Critchley’s side will be looking to kick-start their 23/24 campaign after a fairly lackluster start. Despite an opening-day home win against Burton Albion, Blackpool followed up with three no-score draws. Those were not against top teams; their last time out, for example, was against Leyton Orient who currently sit at rock bottom of the table on a single point.
It’s a disappointing run for a team relegated from the Championship last season. That in itself was tumultuous, with them getting through three managers, including Michael Appleton. Overall they were saved from bottom place by Wigan receiving a 6-point penalty for financial issues.
Critchley was appointed in May, having previously been with the club as head coach between 2020 and 2022. Early signs suggest he still has some work to do to settle the team and start to get results, so this could be a useful moment to face them.
With being relegated the Tangerines have naturally had to thin down their squad. That included releasing former Imp Liam Bridcutt. The defensive midfielder, who played 37 games for the Imps between 2019 and 2022, joined Blackpool last year, following Appleton. During his Imps tenure, he was plagued with injury, for the Seasiders he managed just four appearances before being sidelined first with further injury and later due to Appleton’s departure.
Former Imps we could see on Saturday are Matty Virtue and Tashan Oakley-Boothe. Virtue has been with Blackpool since 2019 and played regularly through to 2021 whilst the Seasiders were in League One. Once promoted, however, he rarely featured before being loaned to us for the 22/23 season. Now back in the third tier clearly he is well-rated as a League One level player, having featured in all of their games so far.
Oakley-Boothe was released by Stoke at the end of last season and has only joined Blackpool just over a week ago. He wasn’t in the matchday squad against Orient but may feature in some way this weekend. That said, Critchley’s comments about the midfielder suggest they saw the opportunity to pick up a promising player on a free transfer, who they can then develop for future seasons. So who knows?
Tactically the Tangerines should line up 3-5-2. In the middle of that five is Oliver Norburn who joined the squad in June and was immediately named captain. Norburn has a decent amount of experience in the third tier, having spent several seasons with Shrewsbury before making the jump to the Championship with Peterborough and ultimately playing a partial role in their promotion back to the second tier last year. He is a handy anchor for the midfield and plays a similar role to Virtue, with whom he is probably pretty interchangeable.
It’s hard to put a finger on why Blackpool are struggling to get into gear. Their results don’t put them at the sharp end of the table just yet, but it might only be a matter of time. The stats suggest they need to be crisper in front of goal. Against Orient, who had lost four – admittedly tough – opening games, they had sixteen shots and put only five on target.
Yes, Orient’s keeper pulled off a couple of acrobatic saves but clearly, the Seasiders have a problem with conversion. In fact, they’ve only managed two goals (in their opening game) in four league matches. That story mirrors what happened last year in the Championship where they had one of the lowest goals tally in the league and the second-worst goal difference.
On the flip side, they seem to have tightened up the defence, including reworking from the back four favored last season to a back three that includes Oliver Casey and Marvin Epkitetka. Casey was on loan with Forest Green last year so has good experience at this level. It shows in the stats; last year they averaged a goal a game, but this season have yet to concede. Breaking down a fairly solid backline will take some creativity at the weekend.
The last time we faced Blackpool was fairly miserable, as they stood between us and the Championship – and ultimately took the win in a downbeat and fairly miserable Wembley playoff final. In retrospect, it is probably a good thing. Were we ready for the Championship? Probably not, and I expect it would have been a miserable season of loss after loss. Who knows. Either way, Blackpool got their shot and, after two seasons, fluffed so here we are back in the Third Tier. We have done OK against the Tangerines, though, at this level – with two wins, a loss, and a draw in league games proper.
All that aside, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing City face Blackpool on Saturday. It’s my first home game this season (having missed the first one due to a family wedding!) and I feel like I missed a cracker. Hopefully, the prospect of breaking down a seemingly decent defence will give the Imps the chance to turn on the excitement again at the bank. Certainly, the atmosphere will be much improved on our last encounter!
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