Lee Clark says he is preparing for next season after Blackpool's draw with Leeds
Sunday 22 March 2015 17:18, UK
Blackpool boss Lee Clark admits the upcoming international break will give him the chance to prepare for next season after a 1-1 draw against Leeds edged the Seasiders closer to relegation from the Sky Bet Championship.
Gary Madine had given Blackpool the lead just before the break, but Italian forward Mirco Antenucci struck just after the hour to extend Leeds' unbeaten run to five games.
Blackpool, the Championship's bottom side, are now 17 points adrift of safety with just seven games to go and Clark says his attentions are already on next term.
"We are in the process of working for next season so the next two weeks will be a continuation of that," he said. "We are talking to players and making assessments. I'm in regular contact with my chief scout. We're looking at players.
"We've got to make Blackpool an attractive proposition - a club where it's not a last-stop shop for somebody - not where they've explored all their avenues and they're going to come here and get a big salary and finish their playing days. We need young hungry players.
"The lads are playing for their futures in football and they've shown me that they can deliver performances today. Whether it's with Blackpool or not they've got to fight for their future.
"We should have won the game, we deserved to. The players deserved three points. There were lots of good individual performances out there."
Before kick-off there were more protests by Blackpool fans against the club's owners, the Oyston family, before hundreds of supporters boycotted the game to watch AFC Blackpool instead.
It was the hosts who struck first in the 44th minute when Madine put them ahead, but substitute Antenucci equalised when he lobbed the ball over Joe Lewis from 12 yards.
"It's a fair result because it's a difficult surface to play on, it's about whether you can avoid making many mistakes," said Leeds boss Neil Redfearn.
"We didn't start well, we didn't play the conditions right. I changed it and we looked better. It looked like it was going to be us that were going to nick it because we had that little bit more quality than them.
"I have to say it must be an absolute nightmare for them trying to get results on this. It's just a quagmire. All it needs is a path through the middle and you've got park playing fields.
"You come to Blackpool, bottom of the league and everybody thinks you're going to beat them six and seven and it doesn't work like that. If you're picking up points away from home you're doing the right things."
And Redfearn revealed he has spoken to England U21 boss Gareth Southgate after Lewis Cook and Alex Mowatt were called up earlier in the week.
He added: "I've had the conversation with Gareth Southgate and he assures me they will look after the boys."
