Date confirmed for Blackpool : Manchester United game

BLACKPOOL FOOTBALL club’s Barclays Premier League home game against Manchester United has now been rearranged for Tuesday 25 January. The fixture, which was originally due to take place last Saturday, will still be televised by ESPN and the game will kick-off at 7.30pm.

All previously purchased tickets will remain valid for the game. In other Blackpool Football news, Blackpool Manager Ian Holloway has said he doesn’t expect to see too much transfer activity at Blackpool during the winter transfer window.

While speaking he said:

“I won’t be able to afford the people who will be being bought and sold in January, so we know where we are going and what we are looking at. We might get some free transfers. If there is one or two that I fancy – and I have already spoken to my chairman about one or two – if any of those deals come off and they are good for the club, I trust the chairman to do it and then we will do it. But I’d rather look after who I’ve got and keep working with them.”

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Bennett ends FC United's dream but supporters remain on song

The thought that FC United of Manchester might participate in the same round of the FA Cup as the behemoth they broke away from five years ago was lost in the mist and frost last night. Portsmouth, who have less money than either of these supposed minnows, will at least be spared the expense of a journey to Bury for the third round in January.

Had Jake Cottrell not driven a penalty against the post midway through the second half, FC United might have taken this match into extra time, although fittingly it was Elliott Bennett, the man of this particular match who broke away to put the tie out of reach of an upset, although the sight of Matt Sparrow rolling the ball into the net in the final seconds of normal time was rather too cruel.

Sir Alex Ferguson might regard them as a footballing SDP but when their supporters split from Old Trafford they brought the great stadium's voice to Gigg Lane. Unlike Old Trafford, FC United's was a crowd that remained noisily to the bitter end.

Britain's new ice age had ensured that neither of these sides had played since the 1-1 draw 11 days before. And although 112 places separated a side at the top of League One from the team third bottom of the Evo-Stik Premier, Gus Poyet, the Brighton manager, wanted the odds shortened, selecting a stronger side than he had in the rather more genteel atmosphere of the Withdean Stadium.

As well as FC United played, Brighton were sharper and better and in the shape of Bennett, Poyet possessed a player who created both goals, cutting in from the left flank. The first was turned in from close range by Fran Sandaza, the second came in similar fashion but this time it was Inigo Calderon, the full-back signed from Alaves, who found the net with his head.

Although Nicky Platt led something of a fightback, that was pretty much that in the first half. The remarkable atmosphere, however did not fade, although the choice of songs did. Before kick-off, they demanded that Manchester United be brought on; as the tie wore on it was"Sloop John B" with its poignant line about wanting to go home. They would leave with honour.

FC United of Manchester (4-4-2): Ashton; Jacobs, Munroe, Parker (Battersby, 77), Quistin (Tierney, 90); Roca, Platt, Cottrell, Deegan; Ovington (Wolfenden, 59), Norton. Substitutes not used: Hibbert (gk), Holden, Carden, Ayres.

Brighton & Hove Albion (4-4-2): Brezovan; Calderon, El Abd, Greer, Painter; Bennett (Baz, 88), Bridcutt, Kishishev (Smith, 75), Murray (Hart, 72); Sandaza, Sparrow. Substitutes not used: Poke (gk), Elphick, Battipiedi, Dunk.

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United secure top spot in Group C

Manchester United needed a rare goal from Anderson in a game bursting with missed chances for their more usual scorers to draw 1-1 with Valencia on Tuesday and secure top spot in Champions League Group C.

The 22-year-old Brazilian midfielder scored only his second goal since joining in 2007 to bring United level after the Spaniards had taken a first-half lead through Pablo Hernandez. United needed to avoid defeat at Old Trafford to win the group and peppered the Valencia goal with chances before their hopes of becoming the first team to go through the group stage without conceding were dashed with the opener.

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Manchester United thrashing left Blackburn Rovers boss 'exhausted'

SAM Allardyce admits Blackburn Rovers’ Old Trafford thrashing had left him mentally exhausted and claims time off was the perfect tonic. The Rovers boss called off training on Wednesday and Thursday, due to the weather, but believes it provided the perfect chance to recover from their 7-1 drubbing. Allardyce’s men stormed back to form in style, with a 3-0 win over Wolves on Saturday, and he believes the enforced break was ideal for all concerned.

He said: “I can’t speak for the players but I can speak for myself. "I had two days off as well and it was the best thing I could have done. “My head was all over the place. Mentally I was fatigued because it is never off your mind when you suffer a defeat like that, particularly as a manager. “You get the criticism and you have to take it and you have to stand it on your shoulders because it is your responsibility. “I benefited hugely from the two days off and I am sure, from their performance, the players did as well. “We gave them two days off because we didn’t want them travelling two hours in and two hours home in those conditions.

"Some of the players could have been travelling five hours a day and that is not mentally good for you. “Mental fatigue could play a part so we gave them Wednesday and Thursday off. "We couldn’t get a piece of grass until Friday.”

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Blackpool ready to train on the beach for visit of Manchester United

Blackpool may train on the beach this morning in preparation for tomorrow's visit of Manchester United. With their regular training ground frozen they used an artificial pitch at a local college yesterday, but Ian Holloway felt the surface was not sufficiently grasslike and was worried about players picking up strains.

"We'll use the beach if we have to," the Blackpool manager said. "We wanted to use it last winter but on that occasion it turned out to be frozen solid like everywhere else. Teams often used to train on the beach in the old days, and Stanley Matthews used to work out on the beach before going to training. If it's good enough for a player of that calibre it will do for us.

Holloway was offered the option of a few days' warm weather training in Marbella but turned it down. "I though it was better to stay here – it was purely a personal decision," he said. "The chairman was willing to pay, and we had accommodation lined up, but in the end I thought it might not be a good idea to come back from the warm into cold like this. Besides, Charlie Adam was moving house."Without undersoil heating Blackpool cannot be certain that the evening kick-off tomorrow will go ahead and are using warm-air blowers in an attempt to keep the pitch frost-free.

"The machine looks like something we've borrowed from a fairground," Holloway said. "I waited for about 10 minutes trying to get a hot dog. I hope the game can go ahead because the whole town has been looking forward to this fixture all season. If we play we stand a chance of being embarrassed on the pitch, but I think we'll be even more embarrassed if we have to call it off."

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Manchester United’s Amos Hoping For Carling Cup Chance

Twenty-year-old Ben Amos is hoping for another chance between the sticks as Manchester United take on West Ham at Upton Park on Tuesday. The Cheshire-born stopper made his first appearance of the season – and his second for United in competitive games – when he played in goal for the Red Devils in their 3-2 win over Wolves in the Carling Cup fourth round last month. Amos spent some time on loan at Molde in the Norwegian League over the summer, making eight appearances, and United boss Sir Alex Ferguson declared at the start of the season that he would be the side’s third-choice keeper after Edwin van der Sar and Tomas Kuszczak. But while he admits that he looks on enviously at players younger than him playing more regularly in the first-team he says he realises that he needs to be patient.

“The next game is always a target for me,” he told the club’s official website. “They don’t come round too often being the number three keeper, so I’ve just got to make sure I’m ready and I’m peaking when those games come around.

“The patience helps when you know goalkeepers have a longer career; look at Edwin and how he’s still playing now.”Amos admits that training with someone much older than himself like the 40-year-old van der Sar was rather like training with your father although he admits the Dutchman is always keen to pass on advice.

“I’ve said a few times that it is a little bit like training with your dad, yeah. I don’t think he’ll appreciate that, but he’s great. I’m chewing at his ear all the time, trying to get bits of advice. He’s very open and he says what he thinks, so it’s great.

“He’s a good role model because of his presence.”Amos is hoping to make an appearance in tonight’s game at Upton Park but says he isn’t phased by the prospect of playing away in a hostile atmosphere. “Any game in the first team is a game in the first team, so that’s how I approach it. Whether it’s Old Trafford or not, it’s not really an issue. The atmosphere is something you’ve got to handle. I can’t see it being a problem to me personally at all.”

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