Cup win against Nottingham Forest can't be a false dawn for Blackpool ahead of Watford challenge

The Seasiders finally got back to winning ways last weekend, putting Premier League side Nottingham Forest to the sword with a 4-1 drubbing in the third round of the FA Cup.

Ekpiteta knows Blackpool must now build on this win, the club’s first since October – ending a nine-game winless streak.

“It was a great win, we did well to get four goals against a good side so it’s good to finally get that win. We’ve just got to build on it now,” the 27-year-old said.

“The game plan was to get after them early on but to be honest, that’s the game plan every week to start fast, get on teams and hopefully push them back. We did that very well on Saturday and getting the first goal was key.

“It’s expected a side as good as them would apply some pressure but we stood firm and saw it out, which was good.

“The manager just told us to keep doing what we were doing, to stick at it and remain on the front foot by putting pressure on them. He knew we’d get our rewards if we did that.

“Before the game he said the two centre halves and Maxi (Chris Maxwell) would have to have good games because they’ve got good forward players. I think we did that. We made good blocks, Maxi made some good saves and he kept us in the game.

“We were ruthless in the second-half and that’s something we need to keep doing, to stay on the front foot and take our chances.

“It’s really good we got the four goals, so now we need to build on this and keep going.”

The Seasiders have only been beaten once since returning from the World Cup break, drawing four of their last five games in the Championship.

“We’ve delivered some good performances in the league, especially recently after the break so we deserved this win given all the hard work we’ve put in,” Ekpiteta added.

“Hopefully next week we can do it again. We’ve shown we can do it against a top side who are in the Premier League so if we can do it against them, we can do it against anyone.”