Mellor: We can cause another FA Cup shock

Mellor celebrates his goal against Barnsley

The Seasiders face a short trip to Lancashire neighbours Blackburn in the fourth round on Saturday week after their dramatic replay win at Barnsley on Tuesday.

Rovers are languishing in the Championship relegation zone and Mellor believes the tie is nicely set up for another cup shock.

The defender said: “Barnsley are a good side and had a lot of the ball but they didn’t do too much damage to us.

“They had a few chances but so did we, so it could have gone either way but it’s a great feeling to get past them.

“Now we have another Championship side and I definitely feel we can get another positive result.”

The right-back played a vital role in the 2-1 win at Oakwell, opening the scoring with his sixth of the season, a finely struck volley.

Mellor added: “For my goal, I didn’t know where the ball was at first but I just saw it come out of the lights. It just fell nicely for me on the volley and fortunately it went in.”

The Tykes equalised only for Bright Osayi-Samuel to win the tie for Pool in the dying seconds of extra-time and Mellor added: “It was a massive win. We knew what we had to do.

“The team dug deep and stuck together. It couldn’t have gone any better for us.

“It was great that Bright got the winner because he played well and he deserved it.”

Pool had to battle through with a patched-up side after suffering three injuries during the game, with Kyle Vassell, Andy Taylor and Jack Payne all being forced off the field.

But Mellor said he always had confidence the substitutes wouldn’t let the side down. “The manager always says it’s about the squad and not just those out on the pitch,” he said. “We stuck to our jobs and got the result.”

That win leaves Pool facing a midweek trip to Plymouth. They were scheduled to visit Home Park on Saturday week but that League Two fixture must be rearranged because of the FA Cup tie at Ewood Park.

This season’s final round of League Two fixtures on Saturday May 6 will all kick-off at 5.30pm, including Pool’s home clash with Leyton Orient. At least one match will be televisied by Sky.