Michael Appleton on Blackpool league start perspective and Josh Bowler decision making

Blackpool boss Michael Appleton is excited for two tough fixtures in QPR and Burnley after the Seasiders narrowly missed out to Swansea City at Bloomfield Road.

The Seasiders created a number of opportunities and missed a penalty in a game they should have taken something from, with decision making or the final ball not quite there three games into the season. Blackpool saw a real shift in intent and tempo in the second half with the introduction of Shayne Lavery, albeit they looked relatively settled out of possession in the first half too.

Olivier Ntcham's late breakaway goal for the visitors was a real blow as Blackpool weren't able to bring a result to go with the performance but more steady progress and improvement was required following defeats to Stoke City and Barrow and that was apparent in this one.

Whilst it is three consecutive defeats in all competitions for the Seasiders, Michael Appleton is relishing the next challenge and is realistic about where Blackpool are at this moment in time: "Exciting ones and exciting ones to look forward to, there's no doubt about it.

"Look I'm aware that last year we came into this league after being promoted clearly as I know very well at Wembley and it took a while to get going. In this league you have spells for four or five games where it doesn't quite happen for you, last year's a great example - after five games we had two points on the board - we sit here with three points after three games.

"I'll always look at the positive side of it and know that if we can pick up a result in the next two games, it will be a good start for us."

Blackpool had plenty of chances to put the game to bed with Jerry Yates' missed penalty and Josh Bowler's decision to go alone rather than