Ian Evatt believes Blackpool match at AFC Wimbledon should have been postponed

Boss Ian Evatt insists Blackpool’s 1-0 defeat at AFC Wimbledon should never have gone ahead after a sickness bug ravaged his squad before the League One clash.

The Dons were 1-0 up at half-time after Alistair Smith’s fantastic finish from outside the box gave the hosts the lead in the 13th minute.

However, a much-changed Seasiders side showed immense character in the second half, threatening to snatch a point despite the poorly-timed illness that impacted players and staff alike.

Dons striker Jayden Stockley was sent off for a second bookable offence as emotions boiled over after the full-time whistle blew, but Evatt was proud of his team’s performance under difficult circumstances.

“We have had 14 or 15 players and staff who have had severe diarrhoea and vomiting from midday yesterday through to now,” he said. “It is continuing; there are some players and staff who have not been able to make it out of bed.

“Some staff have had to continue to do their jobs with the diarrhoea and vomiting. The players are the same, players vomiting on the pitch, diarrhoea on the pitch.

“It has been horrific, I have got to be honest, I have never seen a virus spread so fast and I have never seen anything as aggressive as what it is.

“This is not me trying to make excuses; I would be saying this game shouldn’t have taken place if we had won the game. It definitely shouldn’t have.

“For me, my players’ welfare and health come first, that is my priority, and it should be everyone else’s as well, and that is all I am willing to say on it.

“The performance itself, aside from all that, I would have been proud of because we did a lot right in the game. In the context of what I have witnessed in the last 24 hours, I am so proud.”

The result leaves the Seasiders outside of the relegation zone on goal difference, while Johnnie Jackson’s Dons side are now in 17th place.

Jackson said: “It was a huge effort from the squad. We are massively depleted as well, if you go through who we are missing. Two goalkeepers injured, our captain Ryan Johnson, Marcus Browne, Matty Stevens.

“We are depleted, and we have got really young lads on the bench so I knew it was going to take a massive physical effort from the lads who started, from the lads who need to come on.

“The only way you are going to get results in this league is by giving absolutely everything because we are never going to dominate a game from start to finish.

“The opposition are always going to have periods where they put us under pressure and then it is about digging in and getting through it.

“It was not the back three that I was envisioning at the start of the season, but they were really mobile; they can all shift, and they have running forwards, so it may have suited us. I thought they defended well.”