Blackpool claimed a 4-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra in their opening game of the EFL Trophy group stages.

CJ Hamilton claimed a brace while Jordan Rhodes and Sonny Carey also bagged their first goals of the season, as the Seasiders enjoyed a comfortable evening at Bloomfield Road.

Omar Bogle’s goal off the bench was nothing more than a consolation, and couldn’t stop Richard Keogh rounding off his interim spell as head coach with a win.

Blackpool opened the scoring after only two minutes, with Rhodes beating Filip Marschall with a well hit effort from the edge of the box.

Ashley Fletcher thought he had given the Seasiders a quick second, but saw his celebrations immediately cut short by the referee’s whistle for a foul.

The striker also had a shot deflected over the bar shortly after, with CJ Hamilton having a shot blocked as well just before.

Down the other end, Rhodes made a strong block in his own box, while Harry Tyrer made a couple of routine saves.

Just after the half hour mark, the Crewe keeper made himself big to produce a save, after a good ball over the top from Elliot Embleton to Fletcher in the box.

Blackpool doubled their lead ahead of half time, with Hamilton heading past Marschall following a cross from the right side.

Following the restart, Carey made it 3-0, courtesy of a shot from the edge of the box going in off the inside of the post.

It wasn’t long until the Seasiders had their fourth, and Hamilton had his second, with the wing-back smashing the ball past the keeper at the front post after breaking down the right side.

Crewe were able to pull on back, courtesy of substitute Omar Bogle, who slotted a shot past Tyrer.

In the latter stages, Spencer Knight and Theo Upton were both introduced off the bench, with the latter becoming the third-youngest player in Blackpool’s history.

Here’s the full team: Harry Tyrer, Matthew Pennington, Olly Casey (61’), Zac Ashworth, CJ Hamilton, Elliot Embleton (85’), Sonny Carey, Dominic Thompson (69’), Ashley Fletcher (45’), Jordan Rhodes, Jake Beesley (85’).

Substitutes: Ricahrd O’Donnell, Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel (61’), Ollie Norburn (45’), Alex Lankshear (69’), Theo Upton (85’), Spencer Knight (85’), Jake Daniels.