A DEJECTED Rob Edwards spoke to Tangerine World after the derby defeat against Preston and this is what he had to say...

Rob, sum up the mood in the dressing room after that?

Very annoyed and disappointed. We started the game ok, obviously got the goal, and to go in at half-time at one-nil, we needed to keep it going and work hard. In the second-half we have been outrun and that is not acceptable, so it's something we'll have to address.

Do you think the players relaxed a little bit more in the second-half, given that lead?

I don't know. We've come out after being told at half-time what to do and they've got about us more in the second-half. They got what they deserved in the end and we got what we deserved, a defeat.

You've spoken a bit about the club bouncing back from defeats but there has been a defeat against Burnley and a defeat against Preston now and they must be the two most disappointing results this season, against the two local rivals?

Yes, exactly. In both games we've been sub-par so it's something we've got to look at and sort out quickly. We've got a great game to look forward to next week against the league leaders at their place and we've got to go and try and put things right.

Defensively, you must have been pretty annoyed?

Yes, definitely. As I say, at half-time we were looking good and doing well in terms of looking solid and limiting their chances. It just seemed like for 45 minutes of the second-half we were defending and if you're defending for virtually 45 minutes, then you're going to cave in at some stage and we did that.

We've got to move on, football has 46 games in a season and I know this is really important to the fans and of course it is to us but we can't dwell on it, we've got to look at what we can improve on. If we dwell on it and start moping around then nothing will get done, we're not going to improve and we're not going to pick up points. Everyone has got to get behind each other, it's not like it's a crisis but after two defeats in a row we've got to bounce back.

What do you think it was in the second-half, was it a case that the Preston players looked like they wanted it that little bit more?

That's what it looked like. I'm not saying that's the case, I'm just saying that they looked like they worked harder and ran more, which is why I said it's not acceptable. We've got to make sure we look at ourselves now and never let that happen again because that's what we base a lot of our good work on, working hard. A lot of the good results that we've had this season are because we've worked harder than the opposition and, in the second-half, they did that to us.

That was probably the most uncharacteristic Blackpool performance this season, wasn't it?

Yes, I think so. Like you say, the two probably worst games we've had so far this season have been the two games that everybody would probably want us to win most. We're obviously very disappointed and very annoyed and down about it but we've got to bounce back.

A message for the supporters

Well they've just got to try and get behind us again. I know it's going to be really difficult, they're going to be really upset and annoyed with us - it's not like we've gone out there intentionally to lose the game, we've always given our best but, second-half, it wasn't good enough. Apologies go out to the fans because they pay good money and are expecting a good performance and, second-half, they didn't get that. We're sorry about that but we've got to bounce back and they've got to get behind us next week and for the forthcoming games, I know that's up to us to get them going as well - it's a two-way thing - but I'm bitterly disappointed for the fans because the second-half wasn't good enough.

And I suppose that wasn't the ideal derby you were looking to play in?

No, I was really looking forward to it before the game. At half-time I thought that it was obviously looking good but, after 90 minutes, I'm gutted and really, really annoyed, disappointed and down about it. But we've got to bounce back and we'll try and do our best next week against Wolves.

You can listen to the full interview with the skipper now on Tangerine World.