'It's easy to shout a name': Blackpool boss Michael Appleton gives Chris Maxwell his backing as fans call for Dan Grimshaw

Grimshaw’s name was chanted by the 4,000 or so Seasiders that made the trip to Wigan on Saturday for the 2-1 defeat at the DW Stadium.

It followed another mixed display from Maxwell, who allowed an inswinging corner from James McClean to trickle past everyone and into his far corner for Wigan’s equaliser.

When asked by The Gazette if there is a decision to be made over his choice of number one, Appleton said: “It depends. From my point of view, I haven’t seen Chris make too many mistakes in the 11 or 12 games he’s been involved in.

“It’s easy to shout a name and expect someone to come into the team and that will always be the case when you’ve lost a few games, because there will always be someone who has an opinion about who should be playing instead of him, him and him. That’s why everyone is a football manager.

“Chris is an experienced player and an experienced head and he did his bit against Wigan. He certainly wasn’t the reason why we lost the game and he certainly hasn’t been the reason why we’ve lost games in the past.”

A theme of recent games has been opposition sides targeting Blackpool’s six-yard box from set-pieces and wide crosses.

When asked if Maxwell could be more dominant of his goalmouth, Appleton added: “Yeah, possibly. But I’ve asked the central midfield player to do that role for me (protect the near post) and he’s got done in the 87th minute by a centre half (for Wigan’s winning goal).

“Again, it’s easy to point fingers but the reality is if Marvin Ekpiteta is still on the pitch he heads the ball away.

“You’ve just got to be really careful with who you try and dig out because the reality is the players who actually put a shift in against Wigan did well.”

Grimshaw started the season as Blackpool’s number one only to lose the shirt, somewhat surprisingly, for the game against Norwich City at the start of October.