Simon Grayson: Criticism from some Blackpool fans doesn't bother me

That’s despite the Seasiders sitting in fourth place in the division after 12 games, their second-best start to a season in the last decade.

Grayson said: “I’m too old and long in the tooth to be worried about what people are saying about my team or this, that or the other. Social media? I don’t bother with it.

“I look at the true facts, which show we’re fourth in the division and we’ve only lost two games all season.

“I do think we’re going to get better, but if we had been offered this position at the start of the season I’m sure 99.9 per cent of people would have taken it.

“You’ll always have a minority who think they can do a better job than those players playing the game or manage better than managers and run the club better than the owners.

“It’s just part and parcel of football. You just get on with it. People are entitled to their opinion but whether I take any notice of them is another thing.

“Everybody wants to play really well in every game and everybody wants to be top of the division.

“This football club is still building, having been through a lot of turmoil over the last few years, and a lot of change has happened both on and off the pitch.

“Things don’t fall into place instantly but we’re working towards that.

“We’re still in a strong position and we’ve given ourselves a platform to build off.

“There are a lot of football clubs in this division who would like to be where we are, that’s all I’ll say.”

Grayson is also adamant he will take boring 1-0 wins between now and the end of the season if it means being successful.

The Pool boss added: “If you ask anybody they will say they want to win football matches in a positive manner and entertain.

“We’ve done that at times but give me a scrappy 1-0 win any day of the week because points are all that matter.

“If we get promoted by one point come the end of the season, everybody will say, ‘You were rubbish at Bolton but that point could make a massive difference.’

“We’ve had to fight hard over the last few weeks to get results, but that’s what you have to do because nobody will give you anything – no matter if you’re playing somebody at the top of the league, the bottom of the league or someone in the middle.

“We spoke about it with the players and we certainly know what we need to work on, but it’s one of those things you try to deal with and strive to improve all the time.”