Two goals in four minutes from Freddie Sears saw the Blues come from behind to lead Blackpool 2-1 at half-time, Andrea Orlandi having put the Seasiders in front in the fourth minute.
Tyrone Mings returned from his two-match ban at left-back, while Teddy Bishop was back in midfield and Sears up front.
Zeki Fryers dropped out of the 18 completely, while Richard Chaplow and Chris Wood were on the bench, alongside Jonny Parr, back from his hamstring problem. Already-relegated Blackpool included former Blues loanee Darren O’Dea from the start.
The game got off to the worst possible start for Town with Blackpool taking the lead with the first serious attack of the afternoon in the fourth minute.
Henry Cameron escaped down the left and cut the ball back to Orlandi breaking unchecked from midfield and the former Swansea man swept home from 10 yards.
The Blues immediately looked to get back on terms, Tommy Smith was unable to get enough on a header from a corner, then Daryl Murphy was stopped in his tracks by a Peter Clarke challenge just inside the area.
On nine Bishop curled an effort wide from the edge of the box, then a minute later Jay Tabb sent Sears away towards the area but Seasiders keeper Elliot Parish came off his line quickly to challenge.
Luke Varney, who opened his Town goals account at Huddersfield on Monday, should have equalised on 12 when he was allowed a free header from Bishop’s left-sided corner but nodded the ball well wide.
Cole Skuse dispossessed Charles Dunne midway inside the Blackpool half on the quarter hour, but his low cross towards Murphy was cut out by O’Dea.
Town continued to keep up the pressure, Murphy overran the ball having made a strong run down the left, Tabb was unable to get in a shot from a Mings cross, then Murphy hooked the ball back across the edge of the six-yard box but it wouldn’t fall for a Town player.
On 23 Sears volleyed over from the edge of the box, then Paul Anderson replaced Varney, who went straight to the dressing room having apparently suffered a knock.
Within seconds of the change, Town were back on terms. Smith sent a freekick to the left of the area from deep on the right, Mings nodded it down and Sears turned a half-volley beyond Parish and into the roof of the net. It was the former Colchester man’s sixth goal for the Blues and his 20th of the season.
Four minutes later, Sears made those totals seven and 21 and the scoreline 2-1 to the Blues.
Chambers played a one-two with Murphy as he broke into the area on the right before looking to find Tabb with a low pass across the area. Orlandi intercepted but inadvertently diverted the ball into the path of Sears, who gleefully slipped under Parish from close range.
Ex-Blues loanee O’Dea was replaced by David Ferguson on 32 following a spell of on-field treatment, the former Celtic man appearing to have broken his nose.
Town claimed a penalty in the 37th minute when Anderson fed Sears inside the area and the ball struck Clarke’s raised arm. However, referee James Linington showed no interest in the Blues players’ appeals.
In injury time, Anderson scuffed Mings’s cross from the left wide before referee Linington ended the half.
After being rather caught cold by Blackpool’s early goal, the Blues quickly got themselves on top and the rest of the half was virtually all Town pressing and probing for openings in the visitors’ defence.
Town probably ought to have been ahead prior to Sears’s two goals, the former Colchester and West Ham man continuing the excellent start he has made to his Town career with two fine finishes.
Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Mings, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Bishop, Varney (Anderson 23), Tabb, Murphy, Sears. Subs: Gerken, Parr, Hunt, Chaplow, Wood, Williams.
Blackpool: Parish, Maher, Dunne, Clarke, O’Dea (Ferguson 32), Perkins, O'Hara, Cubero, Cameron, Orlandi, Madine. Subs: Boney, Ferguson, Oliver, Osayi-Samuel, Barkhuizen, Delfouneso, Telford. Referee: James Linington (Newport, IoW).