Bowyer: Take advantage of home comforts

Blackpool boss Gary Bowyer is happy with home draws in the FA Cup and Checkatrade Trophy

Pool were handed a tricky tie against Barnsley in the FA Cup third round draw on Monday, having beaten two National League North sides in Kidderminster Harriers and Brackley Town to reach that stage.

Paul Heckingbottom’s Tykes are 12th in the Championship, having achieved promotion via the League One play-offs last season.

Pool were also given a home tie in the Checkatrade Trophy with Wycombe Wanderers the visitors to Bloomfield Road as a reward for beating Doncaster Rovers on penalties during the week.

“The best you can hope for is two home ties and we’ve managed to get that,” Bowyer said.

“The FA Cup is a great tie for us to test ourselves against a Championship team to see where we’re at and to measure ourselves, both individually and collectively as a team. It’ll be a great challenge for us.

“You’ve seen what a wonderful job their manager did last year but it’s the FA Cup, and we’ve gone from being the favourites to being the underdogs, and that’s a chance for us to play that role.”

The tie against Wycombe will take place in the week commencing January 9 and will come on the back of Pool’s FA Cup clash against Barnsley.

Meanwhile, the Pool boss remained tightlipped when questioned about the future of Macauley Wilson, who is currently on loan at AFC Fylde.

It comes after the 19-year-old revealed he is loving life with the Coasters and is keen to extend his stay.

He told the Gazette he had been given a great welcome from his new teammates and wanted to remain with the non-league outfit.

The young full-back joined the club from Blackpool last month the week after making his professional debut for the club, and he has since gone on to impress.

Wilson’s loan deal expires on Saturday week but he hopes to stay on with the National League North leaders.

Bowyer said: “It’s great that we’ve got him out playing football. He went to Bamber Bridge and then made the step up to Fylde, and he’s doing well there and it’s something we’ll obviously have to talk to Fylde about and go from there.”