Cup hero Michael Nottingham's goal to keep his Blackpool place

The defender lashed home Pool’s equaliser from close range after Mark Cullen had somehow hit the bar from barely a yard out.

Further goals from Harry Pritchard and Armand Gnanduillet sealed Pool’s place in this evening’s second-round draw.

Former Salford City defender Nottingham said: “I think I got the first header, which was cleared off the line, and Cully then hit the bar. It fell right to me and I hit it first time. I just had to hit the target.

“That’s normally how I score my goals – scrappy as hell. But I’m just happy to get my first goal.

“I’m happy to get through and I’m very happy to get 90 minutes. Hopefully that will give me a chance of playing on Saturday.”

Nottingham was one of eight changes for Tuesday’s fixture and he felt a few tactical readjustments at half-time helped the team to push on, having fallen behind to George Moncur’s stunner.

“I think it took us the first half to get going,” he said. “We came in and reassessed a few things but we addressed that in the second half.

“We tweaked the little things and we were very good. I think we deserved to win.

“We weren’t being outclassed. We were very much in the game. It was just a case of putting our chances away. Luckily we got an early goal and that set us off.”

The win was Blackpool’s first of the season and Terry McPhillips’ first as temporary boss, having suffered defeat against Portsmouth on Saturday.

A trip to last season’s surprise package Shrewsbury Town awaits this Saturday and Nottingham added: “With everything that is going on with the club, it was important to try to get the win to give us momentum.

“We want to turn things around and this gives us that bit more belief.

“We’ve got a very good squad, so it’s very challenging in every position, but hopefully I’ve given the boss a bit of a headache for the weekend.”