Gary Bowyer welcomed his former side Blackburn to Bloomfield Road on Saturday with Blackpool’s latest pre-season friendly ending in a one-one draw.
Blackpool took the lead early on when Kyle Vassell, with his fourth-goal of pre-season since his arrival at the club, opened the scoring with a deflected effort beyond Blackburn ‘keeper Jason Steele.
Ben Marshall, with his effort also taking a deflection off Jim McAlister, had Blackburn level before the break with the match ending in a draw.
It was a match that Bowyer told the Official Website he felt Blackpool ‘grew into’ with him happy with what he saw.
‘We grew into the game, we were brave at times with the ball and I thought from a defensive point of view that our organisation and our recovery runs were terrific. Overall I’m very pleased with the game we’ve produced.’
This draw maintained the unbeaten pre-season run so far with the boss adding he was delighted with this match and the way preparations are going for the 2016/17 season overall.
‘The players have worked very hard in pre-season and they’ve shown that they’ve taken things from training straight into the game. I’m pleased with them but I want more, I want them to be better off the ball even more so than they were today and more clinical in front of goal. I thought we had a couple of great chances today. We want them to keep progressing, get better and keep challenging themselves. Today was another challenge for them, and we’re delighted with that.’
A lot of teenagers played a role with Bowyer expecting some of these 16, 17 and 18-year-olds to be part of the first-team squad this season.
‘At the end of the game we finished with a 16-year-old, a 17-year-old and two 18-year-olds and they acquitted themselves well and gave us something to think about. This season, with the loan window how it is, they’re going to play a massive part.’
