Phil SumblerBlackpool and Swansea City will go head to head this afternoon at Bloomfield Road with both managers looking towards a strong end of the season to allow them to head into the summer with confidence high and a good level of belief for next season.
With the Seasiders in 14th place and the visiting Swans in 16th, neither side are going to be troubled by the relegation zone this season but it would also take a remarkable run of results to see either get anywhere near the end of season play off zone given their current points tally.
That only means one thing that both sides are just competing to end the season with the best run of form that they can muster and finish as high up the Championship’s final table as that run will allow.
It is little wonder then that both managers are looking at finishing as strongly as they can with both clubs this season undergoing differing levels of transition.
For Blackpool it was after a return to this level following all the traumas that followed their relegation from the Premier League in 2011 and, of course, we know all about the Swans season of transition under a new manager trying to play a different style of football.
Despite their relative lowly league positions though neither manager is downbeat ahead of the game and both of them positive about the future as ‘pool boss Neil Critchley explained “We want to always try and play our way and improve playing our way, we want our team to be organised, hard working but play with some creativity as well.
“I think we’ve done that and had a good example of that in the last few games, the next two games are going to be really important I think to see where we can go after the international break with nine games to go.
“We understand the two difficult tasks we’ve got back-to-back at home but our home record has been good recently so it gives us a chance to continue with our good form and lets try and give ourselves something to really attack after the international break.”
Russell Martin’s words ahead of the game were very similar as he said “I want to be higher in the league, but I feel like the wheels are turning and we’re going in the right direction.
“When I break it down and look at the identity of the team and how much the players have bought into it, I think [the identity] is really clear.
“Things still needs to improve, but out of possession the boys hunt the ball back, and in possession the boys try to have as much control as possible. I feel like we’ve added more of a threat in recent weeks. The level of performance at times has been fantastic.
“We’ve put a lot of work in trying to do things a certain way, and we want to keep going with that We’ll keep developing and working on who we want to be as a team. We want to finish as strongly as possible and reward and justify the patience that people and fans have had with us.
“We want to give the fans a team they feel connected to and can be proud of at the end of the season.”
The game at Bloomfield Road kicks off at 3pm.
