Simon Grayson has admitted there could be players who will be disappointed to miss out on his starting XI in the coming weeks but insists he is doing it with the squad's best interests at heart.

Blackpool progressed to the second-round of the FA Cup in comfortable fashion with a 4-1 victory over Morecambe on Saturday and will face Maidstone United in the next round of the competition.

Grayson, surprised a few people when he named the same side for the Morecambe tie as the one that had beaten Peterborough United in League One the previous week.

The former Sunderland boss, has said in recent weeks that he wants the club to do well and win no matter what the competition was and this seemed apparent when he was justifying Saturday's team selection.

"We wanted to try to get through to the next round of the FA Cup and now we want to get through that one as well to get to the third round, it was only fair the players who did well last week against Peterborough got the shirt again," he told the Blackpool Gazette on Wednesday.

"There were some disappointed players, like Curtis Tilt and Jordan Thompson, as they didn’t even get on the pitch, but that was a reflection of where we are as a squad because we’ve got to make sure we reward people for good performances," Grayson added.

Blackpool host AFC Wimbledon on Saturday, then travel to high-flying Ipswich Town before their FA Cup tie with Maidstone.

The Verdict

I think Grayson is doing the right thing by his players, in rewarding those who performs with starts no matter the competition.

Winning breeds confidence and momentum, so fans and managers shouldn't shy away from certain competitions and disrupt this.

Disappointed players are seen as a positive for Grayson and he will feel this shows that he has a capable group who will all be vying for a place in the starting XI.

It will be interesting to see how Grayson handles his squad and his rotation when they hit the Christmas period, with his side scheduled to play seven games in four weeks over that time.