Grayson warns that Blackpool’s victory over Bristol Rovers is ‘just the start’

Blackpool enjoyed a dream start to manager Simon Grayson’s second spell in charge and he warned there is a lot more to come after a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers.

The Seasiders scored a goal in each half at a packed Bloomfield Road, Jay Spearing from the spot just before the half-hour and Armand Gnanduillet with a diving header at the start of the second half.

That was the perfect way to kick off life under new owner Simon Sadler and Grayson was delighted with his team’s efforts.

He said: “What a great feeling. Right from the first whistle there was a cracking atmosphere inside the stadium.

“We’ve won, we’ve scored two goals and we’ve kept a clean sheet. I don’t think anyone could have asked for any more than that.

“It’s a great result and it gives us a platform from day one. We’ve got something to build on.

“We needed that bit of luck at times, admittedly, especially early on when they hit the post but overall I don’t think Bristol created that much of a threat.

“Our lads were really sliding in and putting their bodies on the line, and for me as a manager, it’s great to see on the opening day of a new season.

“The whole day has been just brilliant and this result is for the fans especially as they’ve really been through it over the past 10 years or so.

“There’s better to come from these players, too. This was just the start.”

Rovers had started strongly with Ollie Clarke’s low drive hitting the post, but it was Blackpool who hit the front through Spearing after Anssi Jaakkola had bundled over Curtis Tilt.

Gnanduillet’s diving header then secured the points, with Rovers manager Graham Coughlan frustrated at the way his players allowed their heads to drop thereafter.

He said: “It’s a difficult result to take but some of that wasn’t good enough, it just wasn’t acceptable.

“We’ve beaten ourselves, and that’s the bit that hurts the most.

“We’ve put in some tremendous hard work during pre-season, but two major errors have cost us the game here.

“Maybe we didn’t do enough to have won the game, but that performance wasn’t what I wanted and wasn’t at all what I expected.

“The plan was to try and keep Blackpool quiet early in the game, and I think we did that.

“If we’d scored in the first 10 minutes it could have been a different game.

“We slept at a set-piece for their penalty, though, and then conceded again so soon after half-time, and that’s the game gone.

“Again we just didn’t do ourselves justice, but the most disappointing thing for me was seeing some of the players wave the white flag when we went 2-0 down.”