McDonald confident of success

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The Seasiders appointed the former West Ham number two as their new boss on Tuesday evening as they prepare for life in Sky Bet League 1 following last season’s relegation.

The club has slowly declined since being promoted to the top flight in 2010 and McDonald’s predecessor Lee Clark recently revealed he was taken aback by just how bleak the situation was at Bloomfield Road.

With no goalkeeper, McDonald has just 10 other professionals on his books – and doubts persist about the future of three of those – and faces a rebuilding job akin to the one Jose Riga was facing 12 months ago.

However, while Riga and Oyston’s clashes over player recruitment left Blackpool hastily patching a squad together in the days leading up to the season, McDonald is confident those mistakes will not be repeated under his watch.

“I’m up for that challenge to try and make sure the team is competitive and make sure we try and bring good players into the football club,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

“My main concern is to try and win football matches.

“I’m sure I’ll get the support, I’ve had the support so far on trying to bring players in and hopefully that will continue. If we do get the players that I want to try and bring in to try and excite the fans – the only way is up and that’s the way we want to go.”

The conditions that have faced previous managers may have scared many prospective bosses off but not even a meeting with Clark could dissuade McDonald from taking up Oyston’s offer of a one-year rolling deal.

He added: “Why would anybody not fancy this job?

“My job is to get the team in a winning situation and to try and play some good football to excite [the fans] – surely every manager would want to do that?”

McDonald conceded: “Over the last couple of years it’s been a little bit downhill but when you’re a coach and a manager you feel as though you can take the world on.”

The new boss also stressed he will adopt a wait-and-see policy on Nile Ranger – who is due to report back for pre-season training at the end of the month despite being AWOL since December.