Birmingham City 0-1 Blackpool - Loan man Ian Poveda earns victory at St Andrew's
- Published
- comments
Leeds United loan man Ian Poveda give Blackpool hope of escaping the drop in the Championship as he hit a late winner at Birmingham.
The Blackpool substitute was set up by Morgan Rogers to net the only goal of the game from close range just 12 minutes after coming on.
That leaves the Tangerines now just three points adrift of safety with two games left - but they might have to win both, at home to Millwall and away to Norwich to give themselves a chance.
Blackpool are now three points adrift of Neil Warnock's 21st-placed Huddersfield, who have a game in hand.
Both sides had shared five goalless draws this season, including the one between Blackpool and Blues at Bloomfield Road back on 10 December.
And this one looked like it may become another blank after the two sides managed just one shot on target between them before the break.
John Eustace's Blues, now safe from relegation themselves, looked more of a threat after the restart.
But they were made to pay for a dreadful mix-up between home defender Kevin Long and stand-in goalkeeper Neil Etheridge on 74 minutes which allowed Poveda to knock in the only goal.
It brought Blackpool's first away win since October, at Coventry, and Poveda his second only-goal-of-the-game matchwinner, having also scored in a 1-0 home win over Stoke City in February.
Blues, who stay 17th, 10 points above the relegation zone, were again without top scorer Scott Hogan with a groin injury - and boss John Eustace confirmed that he will miss the final two games, as he is due to see a specialist this week.
Birmingham City head coach John Eustace:
"The performance was flat, although we were in control. The manner we conceded the goal - we handed it them - was the most disappointing thing. It really knocked us back.
"The concentration levels weren't good enough for the goal and then, after that, you could see a lot of heads drop which is disappointing.
"We spoke at half-time about taking the shackles off and who was going to be the one that goes and wins the game, but unfortunately that didn't happen.
"Scott will be out until the end of the season now. He's seeing a groin specialist on Tuesday."
Blackpool caretaker boss Stephen Dobbie:
"We're still alive and in that dressing room we're starting to believe we can do it. I told the players we'd got nothing to lose and that we needed to go for it, so could we get the goal to get us the win to keep fighting until Friday night before the other teams play.
"QPR won but we're still there and have something to play for. If you've have said that six games ago, I'd have taken it.
"The boys will keep fighting. We hadn't won away from home since late October so that was the pleasing part. I think it showed what it meant to the fans.
"It's probably the best game I've seen Morgan Rogers have in a Blackpool shirt. He was fantastic. He showed what he can do with his hold-up play, his strength, running the channels and then when he got the ball, making little combinations and making things happen."