Cup of cheer for Blackpool boss

Blackpool boss Gary Bowyer admitted his side was made to work hard by Brackley Town

Gary Bowyer says he is delighted Blackpool are in the hat for the FA Cup third round draw despite admitting their performance against Brackley Town was one of their worst of the season.

The Seasiders scraped through to the next round after an unconvincing 1-0 win against the Northamptonshire outfit as Pool saw off National League North opposition for the second round running.

Blackpool will now face a nervous wait to find out who they will face in tonight’s third round draw, with all Premier League and Championship clubs now involved.

“The objective at 2.55pm was to get through and that’s what we’ve done,” Bowyer said.

“But that’s probably been our worst performance of the season from a playing with the ball point of view.

“But the character and desire to get through shone through, especially in the second half but they had to dig deep and it wasn’t easy. So fair play to them.”

Jamille Matt’s close range header in the sixth minute was enough to separate the two sides at Bloomfield Road.

However, the visitors will feel aggrieved not to have secured at least a replay after putting in an impressive display.

Bowyer paid tribute to the visitors who had the lion’s share of possession and the game’s clearest chances.

“We’ve started well and we’ve got the early goal, and we’re delighted with that,” he said.

“It’s a difficult game for us knowing that if we win and get through, people say they expected it.

“We knew what a difficult game it was going to be for us.

“We’ve had them watched. I went to watch them myself, they knocked Gillingham out in the last round so we knew how difficult it was going to be.

“Once you score early sometimes it can be a little bit more difficult because you can think it’s job done, and it wasn’t.

“Full credit to their players and manager, I thought they were terrific. It just shows you how difficult it was.”

The Pool boss said Manchester United away would be the perfect draw for his team, who will find out their fate at 7pm tonight.

He added: “Personally I’d love to go to Old Trafford with a team.

“I went to Anfield with Blackburn and that was a wonderful occasion so I’d love something of that nature.

“But we’d be delighted to get one of the Premier League teams either home or away.”