'I'll hold my hands up': Terry McPhillips provides honest assessment despite Blackpool recording away win at Coventry City

The Seasiders were dealt a late blow before kick-off with the news Chris Long was feeling "tight", despite the forward being in line for a start.

That caused McPhillips to make a late change to his side, bringing in Nick Anderton at left back and pushing Marc Bola into an unfamilar winger's role.

The decision didn't pay off in the first half, with Coventry in control and the Seasiders well under-par.

But McPhillips wasted no time and changed it on 35 minutes, bringing Anderton off and replacing him with Liam Feeney as he made an early tactical reshuffle.

Pool managed to make it to half-time on level terms and came out firing at the start of the second half, scoring twice in the space of five minutes thanks to goals from Nathan Delfouneso and Armand Gnanduillet.

“It was not a very good Blackpool team in the first half but I thought we were excellent in the second half," an honest McPhillips said.

“I’ll hold my hands up though. We lost Longy not long before the game, he just felt a bit tight so we didn’t want to risk him.

“We jigged things round a little bit and Nick Anderton came in and we pushed Marc Bola up a little, which I’ll admit didn’t quite work.

“But I thought once we changed it we looked a different team and second half we did really well.

“We obviously got better after the change, but you have to give them credit because they’re a good side and they pop it around which we knew.

“We rode our luck at times and Christoffer Mafoumbi has played really well again. It’s his third game on the trot and he’s kept clean sheets in all of them.

“It’s chalk and cheese first and second half, but we were different class second half.

“I held my hand up at half time but I asked them to do better anyway. It doesn’t matter where you put players, they’ve got to get closer to the ball.

“But full credit to the players. It’s a tough place to come, they were neck and neck with us before the game.

“We were clinical and it’s another clean sheet, which is 16 now for the season in all competitions. So you have to give the defence some credit even though they did get in and Chris made some good saves, but that’s what he’s there for and he’s done well.”