If Blackpool are to escape the drop then it could well be the cabbage patch pitch at Bloomfield Road which will be their saviour. Expect every visiting manager to use it as an excuse and hopefully the remaining nine managers to come to the seaside will all use it as an excuse for defeat. Having trained on it for the last few weeks, it does seem as though the players in tangerine adapted to the awful conditions today a lot better than their opponents from Brighton who looked second best for most of the game. The three points only takes the 'Pool back to where we were at the start of January but at least has kept Lee Clark's side in with the slimmest of opportunities to get out.

After being under the cosh in the early stages, Blackpool then worked their way into the game and saw Andrea Orlandi slam a long-range effort wide in the 22nd minute. Both sides went on to trade blows as the game went on, as Elliott Parish pulled off a smart save from a Gordon Greer header before Henry Cameron and Clarke came close for the Tangerines with dangerous efforts.

Just before the hour Blackpool felt they should have had a penalty when a Clarke strike appeared to strike a Brighton defender in the box, but nothing was given. Nevertheless, the hosts took the lead in the 75th minute when O'Hara curled a free kick into the top corner of the Brighton net.

Clark will know that his side need to get some points on the road as even a 100% home record between now and the end of the season would only leave them on 47 points but the away trips aren't kind starting with next week's trip to Norwich.

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