Sheffield Wednesday will welcome Blackpool to Hillsborough on Sunday afternoon.

Blackpool head coach Ian Evatt has described his team as being a “naive group” ahead of Sunday’s League One clash with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Evatt, who spent time with the Tangerines as a player, made the admission after his side beat Aston Villa’s Under-21s 3-2 in the Jersey Mike’s Trophy at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday night.

Blackpool, who are currently one place and one point above the League One relegation zone, brought their group-stage campaign to a topsy-turvy conclusion after edging past Villa’s youngsters in a five-goal thriller.

Having trailed 1-0, the League One outfit turned the game on its head with goals from Zac Ashworth, former Wednesday loanee Jerry Yates and Jordan Brown putting them in a commanding position heading into stoppage time. However, Markie Meade pulled one back for the visitors late on to set up a nervy finish.

Although his side held on to climb into second place in Group B, Evatt criticised some of his players’ decision-making, suggesting they still have plenty to learn.

“The second half, again for the large part, we had complete control and dominance and got ahead 3-1,” said Evatt, as quoted by the Blackpool Gazette. “Again, the naivety of the group. Jerry’s not secured the ball and we’re running past him in the 92nd minute when we’re 3-1 up.

“There’s just no need to do it; just keep the middle of the pitch strong, keep us secure, make sure we don’t concede any transitions - and we do the opposite.

“This is a naive group, it is, and we’re working with them to try and give them some nous, some game intelligence.

“Some of the big characters have been out of the team. (It’s) Great to have Fraser (Horsfall) back but when he’s out of the team, CJ (Hamilton)’s out of the team, George (Honeyman) is out of the team, we do lack characters - and big characters. Getting those back available is going to be huge for us and we’ll keep working with the players to keep moving forwards.

“It’s a step forward tonight, it was a step forward last Tuesday (vs MK Dons). The first half on Saturday was good, the second half was not so good, but for now, we’ll just concentrate on recovering and making sure we do everything we can to get ready for a difficult game on Sunday (vs Wednesday).”