Blackpool’s players won’t have a wasted weekend despite Tranmere Rovers call-off

Simon Grayson’s players will train on Saturday ahead of their midweek trip to Wycombe WanderersSimon Grayson’s players will train on Saturday ahead of their midweek trip to Wycombe Wanderers
Simon Grayson’s players will train on Saturday ahead of their midweek trip to Wycombe Wanderers

The Seasiders were due to host Micky Mellon’s side at Bloomfield Road today in what would have been a priceless opportunity to get back to winning ways.

That encounter was cancelled after Tranmere secured their spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup with a replay win over Watford on Thursday night.

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“We’ve obviously known this could be the case,” Grayson said.

“I went to Tranmere’s game against Watford on Thursday night because you do your work.

“It would have been very tough on Tranmere to play on Thursday night and then against us on Saturday – but make no qualms about it, we certainly would have accepted it.

“But they ended up with a fantastic result and we get a weekend off in terms of not having a game, but we’ll be in for training on Saturday.

“We can now get prepared for the Wycombe game on Tuesday.”

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When asked if that scouting visit to Prenton Park can now be considered a waste of time, Grayson replied: “No, not at all. I like going to games and I like the opportunity to watch the opposition.

“I also got to watch some of the Watford players, maybe for this window or for future reference as well.

“Ultimately you still try to educate yourself every match that you go to, whether it’s a first-team game, an Under-23 game, a Youth Cup game or whatever.

“You’re always trying to look at different players and different viewpoints about how you can see the game differently.

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“It wasn’t a waste of time – there wasn’t much on the TV anyway!”

Grayson added: “In the first half I wasn’t impressed by any of them as Tranmere played really well.

“They were a little bit better in the second half, but over the course of the game, Tranmere deserved the victory and their match with Manchester United on Sunday.”

Blackpool now turn their focus to Tuesday night’s trip to Wycombe Wanderers, a side that remain second in the division despite winning just one of their last seven league games.

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“We’ve had a real good week with the players in training this week,” Grayson said.

“We’ve sat down and analysed a lot of things as a group and we’ve worked extremely hard on other things.

“It will just give us another day to prepare for what will probably be a different type of game against Wycombe.

“Ultimately it’s about getting things nailed down that we need to do better as a team.

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“It gives the new players a little bit more time on the grass and a greater understanding of how we work and the players they’ll be playing alongside.

“It’s disappointing the game’s not on but the spare time will certainly not be wasted.

“It will be about having more time on the grass to get us firing again.”