FORMER City loanee Mark Cullen hopes he is back in the nick of time to stop Blackpool being dragged into a late relegation scrap.

Back-to-back defeats over Easter left the Seasiders still looking over their shoulders with six games to play.

Monday’s 2-1 loss at struggling Oldham kept Gary Bowyer’s side, who only came up last season, hovering just above the survival scrap.

But at least there was the consolation of seeing striker Cullen return after a seven-month injury nightmare.

Cullen, who Peter Taylor signed for a brief loan spell at Valley Parade in 2011, is delighted to be back in the thick of it again.

He said: “To finally get back out there was great for me. It was a bit surreal to be back involved after such a long time and I’m looking forward to the weekend.

“We’re more than capable of putting a good run together to push us well clear of it.

“We’ve got to keep doing our jobs every day and come game-day, be on it and try to get the three points.”

Blackpool were heading safely into mid-table after beating Portsmouth and Charlton. But two points in four games since, throwing away a half-time lead to lose at Boundary Park, means they are still on the edge of trouble.

They face Northampton and Fleetwood after the Bantams – and Bowyer is determined not to get dragged into the dogfight at the bottom with them.

The Blackpool boss said: “I can’t look at people behind us. I’ve got to keep looking forward and at ourselves.

“We’ve got six games left and for us to be relying on other people would be ridiculous. We’ve got to just take care of ourselves.

“We’ve got to stick together, stay calm and go about it the right way. We’ve just got to see it all the way through.”

Blackpool’s home record is only marginally better than City's. Last month’s win over Charlton was their only success in the last 13 league outings at Bloomfield Road.