Grayson hails ‘big confidence boost’ from win at Donny

Posted Wednesday, September 18, 2019 by PA

Blackpool boss Simon Grayson said his faith in his side was rewarded after they ended their winless run with a last-gasp 1-0 victory at Doncaster.

Grayson’s team had failed to win any of their previous five matches, culminating in a 3-0 defeat against MK Dons.

While he claimed in the build-up he could have switched his entire starting line-up for the trip to Doncaster, he made only two changes.

And Grayson felt his decision to keep the faith paid off as Armand Gnanduillet’s stoppage-time goal saw them secure all three points.

“I trusted the lads to rectify that 3-0 defeat and that’s exactly what they did,” he said.

“We were very competitive again and this result is a big confidence boost for us.

“If you could pick a time to win a football match, that would be it.

“This was a really big win for us and we were a lot better than we had been in the last couple of games.

“We were compact, we moved the ball around the park well.

“We defended well and didn’t give them too many chances.”

Darren Moore said his Doncaster side must use their late disappointment as a lesson to learn from as they look to recover from their first league defeat of the season.

Rovers enjoyed the better of the attacking play against Blackpool but struggled to break down resolute and well-organised opposition.

And Moore believes their desire to win the game cost them as Gnanduillet snatched the win for the visitors on the break.

“We’re disappointed to concede a goal with the last kick of the game, more or less,” Moore said.

“It was more disappointing because we had possession of the ball and we just picked the wrong pass.

“It’s disappointing from a game where I thought we were in control in large spells and we end up conceding the three points.

“I look back on it and it’s an opportunity for us to learn from it.

“Should that moment arise again in the remainder of the season then we’ll learn from it.

“It’s just about picking the right options on the ball late on.

“This team has tasted a lot of success already this season and come from behind to pull themselves back into games. There’s that endeavour to go and get the three points.

“I thought we just left ourselves open towards the end and they broke away to get the goal.

“From a game where they’ve come to nullify us they’ve ended up taking all three points.

“That’s a big learning curve for me and the team.

“But you don’t get much chance to sit on it because we’ve got another game on Saturday.”