Critchley’s men locked horns with an in-form Burton side at Bloomfield Road in League One on Tuesday and were trailing by a goal at the end of the first half.
However, Sunderland loan star Embleton, who replaced Everton starlet Ellis Simms at the start of the second half, changed the game for Blackpool and went on to provide the assist for their equaliser.
Impressed with the substitute’s impact, Seasiders boss Critchley is sure that Embleton made a big difference by bringing more intelligence and technical quality into the team.
The Blackpool tactician explained that he decided to bring Embleton on to exploit the space left by Burton, but was disappointed that his side could not take advantage and go on to win the game.
“We just felt when we were moving the ball around the pitch, they want to come after you and they want to press, but they leave space“, Critchley was quoted as saying by the Blackpool Gazette.
“If you’re brave and you can move them around, then spaces can appear and we thought Elliot in that space behind the midfield players would cause them a problem.
“We also thought it would give us a bit more intelligence and technical quality on the pitch and Elliot made a big difference in that respect.
“We scored when we were on top, but we didn’t keep it going.
“It became a bit more even again after that and that disappointed me.
“I honestly felt when it was 1-1, if we had maintained the way we were playing at that point then we’d go on and win the game.”
Having impressed Critchley as a substitute on Tuesday, Embleton will be hopeful of earning a starting role in Blackpool’s forthcoming league game against Oxford United.
