The Preston match clearly showed our absence of a striker and no doubt Blackpool will try to stifle us too but I still think that we'll beat them. At least it seems very likely that Cirkin will be in the squad for tonight's game and that's very good news. I thought Alese was great on Saturday and we're really starting to see his skills in both defence and attack. Blackpool are on a bad run, having lost four out of their last five games, and are on the fringes of the relegation zone (but still only five points behind us). The only player of theirs that I know is Liam Bridcutt and he's likely to be on the bench tonight. If we do win, we'll be back in the top six. I'm planning to watch the match at a pub in central London and my match prediction is a 2-0 win for us.
I got down to the pub just after 7 o’clock, got a pint in and checked the team-news. Amad was starting while Neil was on the bench where he was joined by Michut, who’d displaced Matete. There was no sign of Cirkin, though. As expected, Bridcutt was among their subs. I didn’t see anyone wearing our colours but I was wearing my London Branch jersey (two for a fiver – I don’t buy shite).
As we kicked off and the pub switched the sound on it looked like another very decent crowd. We pressed well from the off and won a corner on the edge of their box in the second minute, though it came to nothing. Blackpool were giving us little space and our passing was at times poor. I couldn’t hear the commentary very well but when I could it was clearly for another game, which made things surreal. As the picture kept freezing for short periods it wasn’t all in all a great viewing experience.
A bloke behind me said, “We have the technology, We just don’t have the technicians.” Anyway, back on the pitch it had settled down into an even game with neither side creating a real goalscoring chance. The half-way mark came and we were sometimes taking far too long to get the ball out of our half so I was getting visions of another goalless draw. Blackpool won the first corner just before the half-hour and it went right across for a goal-kick. Next thing a good effort from Clarke was tipped out by Maxwell for our first corner but it only led to a throw-in. As half-time approached we were putting together some good attacking moves but Blackpool were packing their box and it was hard to get through. We were awarded a free-kick in a perfect spot just outside their box with a couple of minutes to go but Pritchard put it high and wide. We’d been defending well ourselves and Blackpool hadn’t been much of a goal threat at all so I’d say we’d edged the half, not that that counts for much. Luton were winning 3-2 and had overtaken us in the league.
As we kicked off again it was looking like 0-0 or maybe 1-0 to us. I was sure that a few of the new-arrivals would be given a chance as the half progressed. Blackpool were looking lively in the opening stages and had a great chance from a corner five minutes in that ended up going out for a second corner. Our defence was looking decidedly flappy. Just before the hour-mark we brought on Bennette for Amad but we were under the cosh as Blackpool totted up the corners and looked much more likely to score than us. We had the ball in their net in the sixty-fourth minute but referee Jeremy Simpson had blown for a foul to us. Embleton put the kick over the bar and he was soon replaced by Ba with Neil coming on for Evans at the same time. Patterson had to dive to save an Ekpiteta header as Blackpool continued to have the better of things and a goalless draw was looking like the best we could hope for as we were hardly getting hold of the ball. Michut and Dajaku soon replaced Roberts and Pritchard and with nearly fifteen minutes to go we could still nick it. With seven minutes on the clock we were awarded another free-kick in a great spot but it just led to a quick break by Blackpool. Having praised Alese earlier, he wasn’t coping well with Blackpool’s attacks and allowed too many crosses to be put in. Time was racing away fast and in the first minute of stoppage time we had our best chance yet when a Clarke header was blocked on the line. It ended 0-0.
This was a lacklustre performance from us and Blackpool looked much more organised so in the end I’m fairly happy to get away with a point. Happy Birthday, King Charlie Hurley - eighty-six today.
