Ten disastrous minutes at the end of Tuesday night's match at Bloomfield Road means the Seasiders could be set for an an end of season nail biter.
Blackpool were leading 1-0 after a 34th minute Ben Burgess header when West Brom won a dubious looking penalty when Carl Hoefkens went down in Olympic 50 metre pool fashion in the box.
It didn't look like he was touched by Stephen Crainey, but the referee pointed to the spot, and Kevin Phillips accepted the gift as gratefully as you would expect the leading scorer in the division to do, sliding the ball in off the inside of the post.
advertisement
West Brom scented victory and went for the throat. They took the lead just three minutes later when Phillips netted again, and twisted the knife with a breakaway goal from the pacey Ishmael Miller three minutes from time.
It could have been different, if only Blackpool could have turned their first half superiority into two or three goals instead of one. But the chances went begging, with Michael Flynn coming closest when his header came back off the bar.
The pessimists will look back and see that as the story of a season when the quality of football has been good but pressure has not been converted into goals at crucial times and performances have not been matched by points.
That has been particularly true in the last seven games, which have brought just five points from five draws and two defeats, despite consistently solid performances.
The Seasiders now face four massive games, starting away to FA Cup finalists Cardiff City on Saturday. Another very difficult encounter.
The Welsh side is unbeaten in its last eight outings and will be on the crest of a wave after their FA Cup semi-final win last Sunday.
The game is likely to see Trevor Sinclair lining up against the club where he started his career.
Grayson will have a big job to do in picking his men up after the collapse on Tuesday.
He would perhaps do well to focus them on the perceived injustice of the penalty decision that triggered that collapse, because anger would be a preferable response to one of despair.
Grayson kept the same eleven on Tuesday night that had started the previous three games, but he may be tempted to freshen things up this weekend.
Keith Southern and Michael Jackson are both fit and ready for action again, and Paul Dickov is likely to come into the equation up front.
He is the kind of player with the experience to deal with the current situation, and hopefully provide a crucial goal or three to nudge the club over the survival line.
Other options include loan players Grant Holt and Joe Martin, and fringe players like Andy Morrell, John Hills, Keigan Parker and Andy Welsh, who scored the goal in the reserve team's 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Tuesday afternoon.
But the manager's task now is primarily one of keeping the players calm and believing in themselves, as they go in search of the vital points that are required to maintain Championship status.
That would be no less than they deserve for their superb efforts this season.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Submit your event for free. Click 
Print
Email this
Comment
