‘The ones to stop that unbeaten run’: Former Portsmouth loanee throws down gauntlet ahead of return with Blackpool

Owen Dale is out to silence Fratton Park as he prepares for his Pompey return.

The winger vowed his Blackpool side will take the game to the League One leaders, as they look to build on their improving form at PO4.

Dale insisted he’s unsurprised by the success of John Mousinho’s side this term, as they look to make it 28 league games unbeaten against Neil Critchley’s men.

The 25-year-old will be making his first Fratton return since spending last season on loan, after being brought in by Danny Cowley.

It proved a tumultuous campaign for the former Crewe man, as he got 50 appearances under his belt but managed just two goals.

Dale took an active role in the community in his time at Pompey, however, and reflects on his time at the club positively.

After going four games without a win in League One early on, Blackpool have started to clock up the wins to put them out of the play-off places on goal difference.

Dale is confident about what his side can achieve this weekend, after beating Shrewsbury 4-0 last time out.

He said: ‘It’s a great club and I’ve only got good things to say about it and the people there are brilliant.

‘I think their fans think they’ve probably been in League One for too long and they’ve had a great start to the season. They’re a very good team but so are we and we’ll be looking to really take the game to them.

‘I think it’ll be a great contest.

‘No (he’s not surprised by Pompey’s form). We did that when I was there. We went 10 games unbeaten I think. 

‘They’ve got a lot of quality but so have we and we won’t go there with any fear or doubt. We’ll go there and try and put our stamp on the game and try and win it.

‘It’s a great performance for us to take our momentum on to Portsmouth. 

‘They’re unbeaten and we want to be the ones to stop that unbeaten run. If we want to achieve what we’re going to set out to achieve this season, we need to be winning those games, the big games in the top six or seven.

‘Those are the games we want to win and we’ll be looking to do that.’

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