The Tangerines ended their league campaign on a high by beating League Two bound Bristol Rovers 1-0 at Bloomfield Road on Sunday and booked a third-placed finish.
With the League One playoffs on the horizon, Critchley handed rest to a number of his key players, but Simms came off the bench to score the winner.
Critchley hailed the Everton loan star for the way he found the back of the net and is of the view that the striker’s confidence was there to be seen in the manner in which he scored.
The Blackpool boss went on to express his delight at seeing Simms build on his goalscoring form as the Tangerines gear up for a playoff tie against Oxford United.
“Yes, it was [the finish of a confident striker]“, Critchley told iFollow Tangerines.
“It was a great goal, a really good team goal from back to front, a really good break.
“Deme [Demetri Mitchell] did really well, I thought Deme played well today [Sunday; ed.].
“A lovely little cross and Ellis coming in and coming across his body and controlled his volley really well because you could easily see them skying over the crossbar.
“I think that is eight goals for him now, so brilliant.
“Brilliant that we got the three points and brilliant that he keeps his little run going after scoring two in midweek.“
Having scored three goals in his last two appearances, Simms will be looking to take his goalscoring form into Blackpool’s playoff tie against Oxford United.
