Why Michael Appleton was forced to stray from his 'principles' during Blackpool's thriller against Bristol City

Blackpool lined up in a 4-4-2 formation for the first time this season, with Jerry Yates and Gary Madine leading the line.

It’s a system that was often utilised by Appleton’s predecessor Neil Critchley, but so far this season the Seasiders have more often than not started in a 4-3-3 system.

That remains Appleton’s favoured approach, but with seven players currently out of action – five of them central midfielders in Sonny Carey, Charlie Patino, Lewis Fiorini, Kevin Stewart and Keshi Anderson – Pool’s head coach admits he had little choice but to change things up.

“We were forced into it a little bit,” he told The Gazette.

“I could have quite easily stuck to my principles with square pegs in round holes a little bit, but with only Callum (Connolly) and Kenny (Dougall) being available in central midfield we had to do that.

“I got frustrated because I would have liked us to have had more patience at times and quality, but having said that we caused them a lot of problems as well playing that way.

“It’s just getting the balance. There are times to do it, times not to do it and I thought we kept doing it.”

Appleton was referring to Blackpool’s tendency to knock long balls into the front two, something he claimed his side did too often and too early.

“Without sounding too much of a purist, we went too long too soon at times,” he said.

“There’s a temptation to do that when you play 4-4-2 but I still think we can be a bit more patient and give Gaz and Jerry better options and better deliveries.”

Nevertheless, it made for an enthralling spectacle as the Seasiders fought back to draw 3-3 for the second week running, sparking Sky Sports’ Jeff Stelling to label Blackpool the “Championship’s entertainers”.

“It’s good we’re creating chances and scoring goals,” Appleton said.

“You look at a couple of their goals and there were some errors involved which we can iron out. If we can do that then hopefully the fact we’re scoring goals will help us in the long term.”