Gazette columnist Brett Ormerod on Jerry Yates speculation, Blackpool's recent form and Michael Appleton

He’s a confidence player, Jerry. Just look at the two goals he scored against Sheffield United, the header and the volley, he made them look very easy.

To get his goals against Preston and Coventry as well, he’s in hot form at the minute and up there with the leading goalscorers.

There’s been speculation linking him with a number of clubs but that’s to be expected when you’re playing as well as he is. It’s a compliment to him about how well he’s been playing.

It’s very hard to be consistent in the Championship but he’s managed to do that so far this season, because he’s had a really good spell and long may that continue.

I was at the games against Preston and Coventry and I’m glad I was, because they were superb.

The Preston one especially was one of the best derbies I’ve seen, it was that good. It had a bit of everything and could have gone either way at one point, but Blackpool finished strong and were absolutely fantastic.

The Coventry game, they could have been 3-0 up inside the first 20 minutes. They went 1-0 down to a good goal but they stuck with it, kept going and showed fantastic resilience to win that game as well.

Back-to-back wins in the Championship are great, because they’re hard to come by.

Winning the derby would have done a lot of good for Michael Appleton as well. Both him and Ryan Lowe had been getting a bit of stick so for Blackpool to come out with a win will have put those whispers to bed.

I don’t think the criticism has been particularly fair to him because they’ve played better than the results would suggest.

It was a shame Blackpool couldn’t back up their good form with a positive result at West Brom in midweek but that’s where they’re at in some respects, they’re a little inconsistent.

West Brom are a good side though, they’re clearly in a false position. I don’t expect them to be down there at the bottom come May.

Just because Blackpool are in form doesn’t mean they go down there and pick up another win. West Brom’s players don’t become bad players overnight and they were always going to get it right sooner or later.

But for Blackpool, I come back to that consistency. It’s hard to keep going every three or four days and keep picking up results, especially when you don’t have the largest of squads.

It’s just this league, nothing surprises me anymore.

They have a chance to put it right this weekend though when they take on Luton Town at home, which should be a good game. I’ve not seen them this season but they’re obviously up there again.

It will be a tough game but Blackpool will be glad to get back at Bloomfield Road after back-to-back away games.

They’ve got to try and bounce back from the disappointment of West Brom and try and put a performance on like they did in the previous two games. If they do that, I’m sure they’ve got a great chance of coming away with three points.