Blackpool boss's Bloomfield Road admission in dig to League One rivals- as he makes rallying call for Barnsley clash

A victory on Saturday afternoon would close the gap between the Seasiders and the Tykes to just two points heading into the final round of fixtures. Neill Collins’ side are currently fifth in the League One table, but have been dragged into a battle to remain in the play-off places following a recent dip in form, which has seen them fail to pick up a win in their last four outings.

Sixth place Oxford United currently sit three points clear of Blackpool, and could extend their advantage further when they take on Stevenage at the Kassam Stadium this evening.

Des Buckingham’s men will be looking to bounce back from their midweek 1-0 defeat to Lincoln City, which saw the Imps move up to seventh, one point ahead of the Seasiders.

Critchley states his side need to play their part in keeping their play-off dream alive, and believe Bloomfield Road will give them an advantage against Barnsley, with 45 points already under their belt at home this season- which is the fourth best record in the division.

"We’ve got a really good record- we’ve been hard to play against,” he said.

"I’ve been to a couple of other League One games recently, and I’ve been sitting there watching, and it’s suddenly dawned on me how quiet the grounds are. Bloomfield Road is a unique place, the fans give us positivity and get us over the line.

"We’re very lucky to have such a passionate support base that gets behind the team, it makes a big difference and they’re a massive reason why we’ve got such a good home record. We’ll need them on Saturday, but I’ve got no doubt that they’ll be there for us.

"We know at the moment it’s not in our hands, we can only do what we can do. We’ll have to win both of our games, and then be reliant on other teams slipping up and not winning. That started on Tuesday, with some results going in our favour, and we hope that continues tonight.

"You can’t control what’s going on, but of course I have an eye on it because it makes a big difference to us. Hopefully Stevenage can do us a favour by taking some points off Oxford, but if they don’t we still know we can win tomorrow to take it to the last day of the season.

"We don’t do things easily here- we have a history of fighting against adversity. When our backs are against the wall, that’s when we show who we are as a club and as players. We’ve shown spirit in the last few games, but we’ll need to do that again. When you’ve got something to play for, that’s when you can see what we are.

"This is scheduled to be our last home game, hopefully it’s not, but it’s one we’re looking forward to. The worst feeling would be not doing our side of the bargain if results went in our favour, it wouldn’t be nice, so our full focus is on giving our supporters a performance they can get right behind.”