'We've got to forget the last two minutes': Mark Yates on Macclesfield's dramatic draw with Blackpool

Macclesfield Town boss Mark Yates admits he was left feeling “miffed” after his side squandered a two-goal lead late on in last night’s EFL Trophy clash against Blackpool.

The Silkmen were leading 3-1 going into the final minute of normal time, but the Seasiders hit back with two goals in the space of five minutes to earn themselves a point.

Macclesfield did eventually pick up an extra bonus point after winning the penalty shootout 5-3, but Yates was of the belief the game should never have got that far in the first place.

He said: “Of course I’m not happy it went to penalties, but the performance was really good. I’m really pleased.

“We’re a bit miffed how it ended like it did but the performance didn’t warrant that, we were excellent.

“We were solid and played some really good football. We caused them real problems and for 92 minutes, we were really difficult to break down.

“I think we’ve got to forget the last two minutes for the boys’ sanity, my sanity and for confidence going into Saturday’s league game.

“I think I’ve got to forgive them for that last couple of minutes. We’ve got to learn from it, obviously, and not just brush it under the carpet, but if we had just kept the ball at the top end of the pitch then we wouldn’t be talking about conceding those late goals.

“Again, there are things to do but I think it was our most controlled performance of the season.

“I was watching the game and I wasn’t seeing chance after chance for the opposition, which was pleasing.