Manager Gary Bowyer has said that Blackpool have a 15 game season left and the challenge to the players is to simply win as many games as they can across that period.
With Exeter City up next this weekend and the first of those remaining 15 games, Bowyer is demanding a reaction to the disappointing draw against Crewe Alexandra in our last match and he was determined he’d see that reaction from the players.
Speaking to the Official Site as he met with the media for his pre game press conference, Bowyer explained.
‘We’ve got 15 games left and we’ve got to win as many as we possibly can. That’s what we’re trying to do. We had a good chat with the players after the game on Saturday and we’re all honest enough to say that we weren’t at our best by a long shot, but we were in a position where we should have seen the game out. It was an honest and frank discussion that took place and sometimes you need those setbacks, if you want to call it that, to clear the air and get ready to go again. That’s it now, it’s a 15 game season.’
With Exeter sitting in sixth place in the League Two table, Bowyer knew that the test posed by Paul Tisdales group of players would be a tough one.
‘They’re going to be a tough team because they’ve got all of their injuries and suspensions back. You see the rewards that Exeter get as a football club for having the stability in Paul Tisdale as the manager and the number of years that he’s done there. They’ve got a model and that’s something we’re still working very much towards.’
Adding on that front about ourselves that this year was very much about stability so we can look for growth and real growth next year.
‘This season has been about stability and we’ve got that. Now we’ve got to finish as strong as we possibly can and see where that gets us. From there it’s a case of putting that model in place even further that we’re trying to implement here. You can’t just create a culture overnight, it takes time.’
In terms of injury news, Bowyer did need late fitness tests on a couple of players ahead of the match and he obviously has hopes that new addition Ian Black will help give our midfield some of the bite it’s lacked without Jim McAlister.
‘We all know exactly what Jim brings to the team and we probably feel that we’ve missed a bit of that. We’re delighted that we’ve got Ian in, he’s been in this week and trained with us and he isn’t too far away. He’s obviously got to catch up with match fitness but his experience will get him through games. Watching him in training this week, he’s caught up quickly and he’s experienced enough to know when to run and not to run.’
