Tangerine dream? Newcastle United v Blackpool match preview.
Posted on April 9th, 2010 | 203 Comments |
Blackpool are now the only team remaining that can do the double over Newcastle this season having beaten us 2-1 at Bloomfield Road way back in September. The home side still have their own targets to aim for with the prize of the title firmly in their minds, a target that will move a step closer should we manage 3 points over the Seasiders, aswell as maintaining what is now the only unbeaten home record in the English leagues. Blackpool have sold out their entire 2,700 ticket allocation for the match as the Tangerine army make the journey across from coast to coast and they will no doubt be in fine voice if their bragging on blogs and forums is anything to go by. There are no cash turnstiles in operation on the day so if you are still needing to grab a ticket then you will need to get yourself to the box office.
Ian Holloway has challenged his team to prove they are worthy of a play-off place and has belief that his Blackpool side can pull off a shock result on Tyneside.
“We’ve got to do something no-one else has done and I think we’re going to have to win the game, because heartbreakingly we could win all four games and still not get what we want. If we do that, life could be cruel and we’d have to get on with it, but I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved already.” Holloway said.
And speaking of Newcastle, Holloway added;
“I feel really pleased for all of them but I want to go there and smack them off the face of the Earth if I can. Do I think we can? I believe we’ll have to be at our best and they’ll have to be a bit sloppy but anything’s possible. This is a fantastic opportunity to show everybody in the football world what our team’s about, and I think I’ve got a really good team with some very, very talented players.”
Newcastle have no new injury worries ahead of the game after coming through the two games in three days at Easter unscathed with only Fitz Hall and Steven Taylor still out. With eyes on the title and an expectant home crowd i’d expect Hughton to name a strong starting line up not too different to the one we saw on Monday night against Sheffield United. That was;
Newcastle United: Harper, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Enrique, Routledge, Guthrie, Nolan, Gutierrez, Carroll, Lovenkrands.
Blackpool have striker Brett Ormerod back in contention following surgery on a bone in his hand whilst Stephen Crainey will be given a late fitness test on a knee problem. Hameur Bouazza will miss out with a groin problem. They lined in up in their last match against Doncaster with a team of;
Blackpool: Gilks, Crainey, Evatt, Baptiste, Coleman, Southern, Vaughan, Bouazza, Adam, Taylor-Fletcher, Campbell.
Both sides are in good form and have won their last 4 fixtures each although home advantage combined with an 8 game winning streak at St James’ Park will mean that the hosts are favourites for what should be a tough encounter. Charlie Adam will need to be watched and was unlucky to miss out on the Player of the Season award that our very own Kevin Nolan won.
A tight game but I expect our manager will have the players fired up and i’m sure Hughton will remind the lads of just what is at stake and the manner of the defeat back in September.
My prediction: 3-1.
Howay the lads!
Date: Saturday, 10th April, 2010.
Time: 3:00pm.
Venue: St James’ Park.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
Plenty of motivation in Holloways words but the unbeaten record and winning the league should ensure we put in a good performance, it would be a travesty to waste what the team has built up over a long and hard season.