Critchley’s cross as his Seasiders switch off

NEIL Critchley believes his Blackpool side did not switch on quickly enough in their disappointing draw with Oxford United at Bloomfield Road.

The Tangerines led through a goal from Matt Pennington in the first half, but remain eighth in League One as Mark Harris struck the visitors back level three minutes later.

The result keeps Blackpool eighth in the table, five points behind sixth-placed Stevenage, who have a game in hand.

Critchley said: “We’re disappointed we didn’t take the three points if I’m honest, I thought we started the game well and scored from a well-worked set piece.

“The disappointment is the goal we conceded so soon after and the manner in which we conceded it, that knocked us a little bit.

“After our goal, we didn’t switch on quickly enough, we lost ourselves for a minute or two. It’s uncharacteristic of us in set pieces this season.

“It’s hugely frustrating, Oxford are a good team with good players, but we dominated the second half and pushed them back. In the last few games, we’ve not got the points that we deserve.”

A header from Pennington opened the scoring in the 18th minute after captain Ollie Norburn found the centre-back from an Albie Morgan corner.

Three minutes later, a Blackpool defensive scramble following an Oxford corner handed the visitors an equaliser as captain Elliot Moore set up a closerange Harris dagger.

The U’s continued their pressure with a shot towards an open goal from Harris which was impressively denied by a crucial block from Marvin Ekpiteta.

The best chance in the second half came as a header in the 87th minute as Oxford sub Billy Bodin struck the woodwork, splitting the points between the sides.

The U’s are just one point away from a position in the playoffs, and manager Des Buckingham acknowledged the importance of taking a point away from the game.

“We had a chance at the end of the game,” he said. “It was an excellent cross by Josh Murphy into Billy Bodin but somehow, it’s come off the post.

“We’re not going to hide behind excuses or the reality of what it is, we’ve been stretched extremely thin over the last two months.

“There’s plenty to come and, as you’ve seen today, we are stronger.”