After dropping two points and drawing at home to Accrington Stanley on Saturday, the lads welcome Blackpool to the Stadium of Light this evening, but how will the game pan out?
THE OPPOSITION
Since defeating us earlier this month, the Tangerines have experienced two straight defeats, leaving them with two draws, two losses and a win in their last five games. Neil Crithcley tends to use a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 formation, with the focus being on Jerry Yates up-top. Yates has scored eighteen goals and assisted four in his forty one league appearances this season and is also known for his hold-up play. Sullay Kaikai can also be a threat, usually on the left, but is prone to inconsistencies. With four games remaining, Blackpool have done a remarkable job to find themselves in sixth place. Ahead of Portsmouth only on goal difference, and just two points ahead of Charlton, the Lancashire side have got everything to play for.
TALKING POINTS
Our last game saw us drop both a two-goal and one-goal advantage, notably due to individual errors. A miss-communication at the back saw Luke O'Nien misplace a header into the back of our own net, as well as fail to have any sort of impact in stopping the run of Bishop for Stanley's first goal. Bailey Wright had yet another poor game, too. With injuries limiting our defensive options, is it not time to give Ollie Younger some minutes? The 21-year-old has displayed strong defensive displays in his four first-team appearances this season but hasn't been given much of a chance to shine.
After reverting back to the 4-2-3-1 formation, despite 4-3-3 proving effective once again, it will be interesting to see how the lads shape-up this evening, Having three in the middle seems to allow us to dictate the game a bit more and see the best out of our individuals. The likes of Leadbitter can thrive when others are there to cover vast distance in midfield, and the likes of Scowen can carry out his industrious responsibilities with others there to provide quality on the ball.
After gaining another assist on Saturday, Lynden Gooch seems to be finding his feet once more, especially considering his strong showing against Hull City. It appears the USA international is simply prone to inconsistencies. When we played Blackpool ten days ago, the game seemed to cry-out for Chris Maguire. A game that saw us have a lot of possession but simply fail to make much use of it, it seemed like a game made for the Scotsman. After making a brief appearance off the bench in the following game against Hull, getting minutes into his legs has got to be a smart move with the play-offs looming.
After throwing it away on Saturday, I feel somewhat optimistic we will bounce back. Blackpool are off the back of two defeats and we've still seen an overall improvement in performances in our last two games. I'm going with a 2-1 Sunderland win.
