Philliskirk ruled out but Blackpool hero Kyle is all smiles

Manager Gary Bowyer was delighted with victory in his first match in charge but said: “It was unfortunate that happened to Danny so early in the game.

“He hurt himself in a collision with one of our own lads. We will assess him but he is virtually certain to miss Tuesday’s game.”

The injuries that forced goalscorer Kyle Vassell and Bright Osayi-Samuel to leave the field in the second half do not look anything like as worrying.

Vassell, one of seven Seasiders debutants on Saturday, got Blackpool on their way with a goal after 20 minutes and victory was sealed early in the second half with an own goal by Troy Brown.

Those debutants did not include Michael Cain, signed on loan from Premier League champions Leicester last Friday. Bowyer explained that as Blackpool’s gameplan was working well he saw no need to bring the midfielder off the bench.

The Pool boss said: “Michael will feature in the future because he is here for the season and I look forward to him playing for us.”

Vassell’s goal, his first in the League since March of last year, delighted Bowyer and he added: “Kyle has been terrific for us ever since he arrived.

“I think people forget how young he is. He is a handful and we saw that against Exeter. He provides us with a presence up front. He took his goal well because he had a long time to think about it.

“To be fair to their goalie (Bobby Olejnik), he made a hell of an attempt and it seemed to take an eternity before it went in. It was a great bit of link-up play between Kyle and Colin Daniel.”

The manager also singled out two members of last season’s squad. “I thought Osayi-Samuel was terrific in the first-half. His pace puts teams on the back foot,” he said.

“Brad Potts put in a couple of tremendous balls and got on the end of one, when he maybe should have scored. The wide men did tremendously well.”

As for the overall performance, Bowyer stated: “We certainly would have taken that before the start of play. It was a very difficult game against an experienced team that has been together a long time.

“We’re still in the first stages of a new relationship. It’s taken six weeks to get where we are now and it’s a start.”

Bowyer continued with the oft-quoted theme that there is more to come.

“There is loads for us to improve on and the lads know that because they are an honest bunch,” he said.