'They were too good for us': Terry McPhillips on Blackpool's FA Cup defeat to Arsenal

A first-half brace from Joe Willock and a late Alex Iwobi effort handed the Gunners a comfortable 3-0 win at Bloomfield Road.

The Seasiders, just as they managed at the Emirates in their Carabao Cup clash against Arsenal back in October, put up a spirited effort but just didn't have the necessary quality to produce an upset.

“You’d like to get to half time 0-0, but the first goal kills us in the respect that we shouldn’t give the free kick away," McPhillips said.

“When you’re playing Arsenal you can’t be giving free kicks away on the edge of your box.

“Then we didn’t react well enough. I think it’s gone off Jay’s (Spearing) shoulder, hit the inside of the post and their lad has reacted better than us.

“I wanted us to get the next goal in the second half. When we got one back at their place they went a little bit and we picked up. That was the key but we didn’t get it.

“I thought Armand (Gnanduillet) had a reasonable chance first half and I thought Notts’ (Michael Nottingham) chance was the next best one.

“Apart from that there weren’t many clear-cut chances. There was lots of football and lots of balls around their box, I think we had six corners and some free kicks, but we didn’t do as well as we did down there.

“It wasn’t to be for us but fair play to Arsenal, they’re a top team and they were too good for us.”