Bloomfield Road, where Blackpool hosts Bolton Wanderers, hasn’t been a comfortable hunting ground for the Trottes.
Neil Critchley, the head coach of Blackpool, acknowledges that his team wants to maintain a 46-year record when they play Bolton Wanderers at Bloomfield Road on Saturday.
The Seasiders, who have already defeated Bolton Wanderers this season, will host the promotion-chasing team on Saturday afternoon. The teams faced off in the EFL Trophy quarterfinals, and with to goalie Richard O’Donnell’s heroics, they prevailed on penalties following a goalless draw.
Since December 27, 1977, Bolton Wanderers have lost all of their away games against Blackpool. Bolton won that day with to two goals from Neil Whatmore, and they haven’t won on Blackpool ground since.
“As a head coach I am always wary of those stats because if it was the other way round I’d be looking at that as a chance to break that cycle, if you like,” Critchley remarked in response to the run.
“We can take heart from our home record this season, but I would view that as a challenge and I’m always cautious of the fact that it will end at some point.”
It has all the ingredients for a memorable game played at home in a fantastic setting. Two excellent teams that are going to try to win the match.”
Their last league victory over them was in February 2020, the first meeting after Simon Grayson’s dismissal. The game’s 90th minute goal was scored by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, with Connor Ronan’s first goal being cancelled out by Kean Bryan.
Since their last triumph at Bloomfield Road, Bolton has made 14 trips there; during that time, they have lost eight games and drawn six. However, they haven’t had any issues with them at home, as Bolton defeated Blackpool in November.
After James Husband’s header was blocked, former Seasiders youth player George Thomason scored the game’s lone goal. The visitors were also not awarded a penalty for what appeared to be a handball.
“I say it was fine margins, it was a really good strike from George Thomason from outside the box that decided the game,” Critchley remarked, thinking back to the previous match.
“We believed that the fine margins were another stonewall penalty that day that worked against us. The next game will be decided by penalties because there wasn’t much of a difference between the two teams in the two games we’ve played.
“It might be a decision or a moment of quality that decides the game tomorrow hopefully that will be in our favour.”
