Blackpool boss Neil Critchley was pleased with the workout his side got against Carlisle United - at both ends of the pitch.

The Championship side won 1-0 at Brunton Park in the pre-season friendly.

It saw United's opponents have the better of things for two thirds of the game before a glut of substitutions in the second half.

Carlisle then applied plenty of pressure in the closing stages but Blackpool held on to the lead earned by Demetri Mitchell's 37th-minute goal.

Critchley, speaking to The Gazette, said: “We were a bit wasteful with certain situations we were in, but I was really encouraged with what I saw.

“We scored a really good goal on the counter-attack and had some good chances to go 2-0 up in the second half.

“But once we made the team younger we had to do a bit of defending near the end, which was a good test for some of them.

“It was pleasing to keep a clean sheet and win the game, although results are not vitally important at the moment.

“Getting the team together and playing together more is more important. Hopefully we’ve got no more injuries, because that would be a welcome boost.”

Critchley's eight-man substitution midway through the second half included ex-United defender Richard Keogh, who got a warm reception on his return to Brunton Park - as did Pool's former Blues loan striker Jerry Yates.

Critchley added: “For the first 65 minutes, we had the more experienced team on the pitch and we controlled a lot of the game and we built well from the back.

“We’ve been practising various things in training and we want to use these games as an extension of our training.

“It was important we put into practice the things we do in training in a game situation and we did that. We had some real good play from the back and got into the final third often."