Neil Critchley hailed a brave Blackpool performance as the Seasiders beat promotion rivals Barnsley 3-2 to boost their League One play-off chances.
Goals from Sonny Carey, James Husband and Hayden Coulson put the hosts 3-0 up but John McAtee pulled one back for Barnsley, before Adam Phillips’ late strike set up a nervy finish.
Blackpool need to win their final game of the season away to Reading, and hope that both Lincoln and Oxford drop points in order to secure a place in the top six.
Blackpool are bang in form and have now won their last four games, with Critchley proud of their battling display.
“We don’t do things easy, but I thought we were outstanding up until they scored their first goal. Even when they scored their first goal, we had chances to make it 4-1,” he said.
“We looked a really good team. Our mentality was excellent, we played with confidence and took the game to the opposition. I’m not sure how it ended 3-2, but we won and we take it down to a very exciting and interesting last day.
“It was on par with our best of the season the first hour. We played with a calmness in possession and with an intensity without the ball. We were dangerous.
“I didn’t enjoy the end to the game, but I’m grateful we got the three points.
“We had to win this game, so we took the handbrake off and went for it. The only blot on the copybook today was the goals we conceded.”
Carey gave Blackpool the lead on 12 minutes with a curling shot from 25 yards out that found the corner, while Husband headed in Karamoko Dembele’s pinpoint free-kick before Coulson smashed one into the roof of the net just after the restart.
McAtee pulled one back for Barnsley to give them a glimmer of hope midway through the second half, steering into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Phillips then set up a nervy finish in added time when he fired into the corner, but Critchley’s side held on.
Barnsley know a win on the final day will secure them a play-off place but manager Neil Collins knows they can not relax.
“I think we just got overwhelmed at the start of the game and we created our own problems right from the start – poor clearances, poor in tackles, poor defending,” he said.
“We came out second half, and again we made poor decisions and went 3-0 down. It would have been very easy for the players to feel sorry for themselves, and were it not for some of the officiating we should be standing here with a point.
“Performance wise, it wasn’t up to standard. But the spirit the players showed was really good, and again we were on the wrong side of a couple of decisions.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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