'You lose that': Mick McCarthy addresses Blackpool's transformation in mood after Stoke City win

The Seasiders finally ended their winless run at 14 games thanks to a hard-earned 1-0 victory against Stoke City on Saturday.

They now make the short trip to Ewood Park tonight looking to make it two wins from two and possibly climb out of the bottom three for the first time since November.

While Blackpool have always managed to maintain their team spirit, even in the midst of their miserable run, McCarthy concedes there’s been a real lift during the last couple of days.

“They’ve all been bright and trained really well, I’ve got no complaints with them at all. But we all just feel better,” he said.

“When you’ve won you feel normal. When you’ve lost you feel s**t I’m afraid. Everything is wrong.

“That isn’t the case though because the training is good, the lads are good, we still have a bit of fun, we have a laugh but we also train properly. But you just don’t have that defeat in your head, so you lose that.

“You’re not walking around with a great big smile on your face all of the time, you just feel good. You just feel a little bit satisfied for once rather than angry, upset and dissatisfied, which are not good feelings to have.”

McCarthy admitted to feeling a bit emotional at full-time on Saturday, having not only won his first game as Blackpool boss but picking up three points as a manager for the first time since September 2021.

“I wasn’t bothered about anywhere else, I was only bothered about here,” he said.

“It was just the whole occasion I guess. The atmosphere was brilliant, it was probably relief as well. They had a lot of the ball but the lads were brilliant. They were different class with their defending and kept it out.

“The reaction at the end of the game as well…it was a lovely moment because, having not won a game at Blackpool, it was really great to do it. I had a bit of a lump in the throat with the reaction of the crowd, it was good.

“See, I’m not tough after all, I haven’t got a swinging brick here (pointing to his heart)!”