Goal hero Harry Pritchard dreams of another massive cup match for Blackpool

Harry Pritchard in FA Cup action at Exeter

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After coming off the bench to play at the Emirates in Pool’s Carabao Cup defeat by Arsenal a fortnight ago, Pritchard is dreaming of a similar experience in the FA Cup.

The 26-year-old said: “By getting to the third round we could potentially get a big tie, like we got Arsenal before.

“Every footballer’s dream is to play against the top teams, so it does give you motivation to get through.

“When I was at Maidenhead we managed to get through to the first round proper. That’s the furthest I’d got before this season.

“I am sure we will work our hardest to try to get through to that third round.”

Pool appeared to be cruising into the second round at St James Park, where they raced into a 3-0 lead inside 25 minutes.

But the Grecians ensured a nervy finish by scoring twice in the final stages, though Terry McPhillips’ men held on.

Pritchard added: “I thought I did well and I got a goal, but I thought we worked hard as a team. We dug deep and got the win.

“On a personal level, it was good to get back on the pitch after being on the bench at Gillingham last Tuesday.

“For my goal I just saw Joe (Dodoo) with the ball over on the right and I just decided to gamble because I knew he would shoot.

“From that sort of angle it can always go across the box and luckily I slid in at the back post.

“Joe might claim it was a pass but I think it was a shot!

“We said at half-time they were going to come out because they were 3-0 down and had nothing to lose.

“We knew they would have a 10 or 15-minute spell when they were going to be on top and we just had to ride that out.

“It seemed like they were on top for the last 20 or 25 minutes and they got their two goals.

“But I thought we defended well at certain times and managed to hold on to the win.

“Getting that fourth goal definitely would have killed off the game but at 3-0 you should be winning the game.

“But we knew they were going to come back and work hard, and that saw them get their two goals.”