Michael Appleton attempts to explain why Blackpool were so far off the pace during worrying Hull City defeat

The Seasiders served up an insipid display on home turf to lose 3-1 to the struggling Tigers, who had lost seven of their last eight games coming into the encounter.

But with eight players out, three of those through suspension following the incident-packed 3-3 draw against Sheffield United, the hosts never looked at the races and were sluggish throughout.

Here’s what Appleton had to say after the final whistle.

Where did that performance come from?

“Probably off the back of Saturday, if I’m honest. It looks like that game took a lot out of the players from an energy point of view.

“What we’ve got to be mindful of is that we’ve lost three players from Saturday who have played a big chunk of the season so far and have played a real part in the good bits we’ve had.

“On top of that, having to put Liam Bridcutt out because we know we’ve got to be careful with him and mindful of him going forward with his minutes.

“Big Gaz (Madine) having to play against tonight when it might have been a night to leave him out and get him to regroup, so there were a lot of things that went against us.

“Having said that, they showed a bit of character, certainly in the first-half to get back in the game and create a couple of chances.

“The killer blow was obviously the second goal just before half-time and that seemed to knock the stuffing out of the players.”

You struggled to create anything during the second-half…

“No, it was difficult. That second half I felt for the players more than anything.

“We were having to make substitutions and changes all the time because certain players could only get through certain minutes.

“We spoke about that before the game so it wasn’t something we didn’t know about or expect, because we knew it would be the case.

“Tonight was a game where I wasn’t expecting a similar performance from what we’ve produced over recent weeks, I just wanted a result. I just wanted to find a result from somewhere.”

Needing a response for the derby

“It was good the way they responded (for the equaliser) and we’ve done that time and time again in recent weeks.

“Again, we had a couple of half chances, Callum (Connolly) had one just before the break before they got the second.

“First-half, it could have gone either way, but they pull out a beautiful strike from (Greg) Docherty and then you’re up against it because I’m stood there on the sidelines knowing the changes I’ll have to make and not necessarily the ones I want to make.

“They were a little bit enforced at times, but all I can say is that it will be different on Saturday because we’ll have three or four players come back into the fold who will be desperate to play.

“In terms of games, you can’t pick a better game to play.”