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Blackpool head coach spelled out his opposition to the end of FA Cup replays from round one.

Ian Evatt maintains it is a shame that FA Cup replays have been abolished as Blackpool prepare to visit Hornchurch in the first round.

Saturday’s tie has to be decided on the day following the decision in April 2024 that all replays from the first round were to be scrapped from the 2024/25 season onwards.

The main argument put forward was to ease fixture congestion, with the FA saying it came in light of changes to the footballing calendar caused by the expanded UEFA competitions’

Blackpool condemned the decision at the time and Evatt has a similar view.

Blackpool’s head coach said: “Because I’ve been in the National League, what these competitions mean for the club finances; to be denied a replay - whether it’s us getting a replay against a Premier League giant or them getting a replay against a big League One club - they deserve that opportunity, they deserve that payday.

“It’s part of the game, I’m disappointed that’s been taken away from them.

“People moan about the amount of games, it’s absolutely ridiculous.

“We are professional people in a sport that we all love and enjoy, and we shouldn’t forget where we come from.

“I’m a working-class lad from Coventry. I’ve managed in the National League, coached in the National League, I know what it was like to be there, I know what it means to these people and to these clubs.

“Why should we turn our nose up at that, just for extra games? I think we have a responsibility to make sure we’re fair across the board and that, for me, is unfair.

“They deserve that chance and opportunity, and that financial payday.”

Forty-three places separate Blackpool from their National League hosts in the pyramid, making Saturday’s tie the proverbial banana skin.

Acknowledging the Seasiders will be regarded as ‘the big fish’, Evatt added: “It’s great that people and clubs have this opportunity - but it’s also an opportunity for us.

“We want to have a cup run. The FA Cup is fantastic, it’s magical, it’s a big part of our game and I want to see us get as far as we possibly can.

“We’ve had a slight upturn in our results and performances but (we’re) still nowhere near where we want to be.

“We’ve got to keep moving forwards. At the minute we’ve had some steps forward.

“We were disappointed not to win the game on Sunday, at Sheffield Wednesday, which says a lot about the group, our expectations and demands on each other.

“That was a step forwards; a small one, not a giant one.

“We want to do that again this weekend and make sure we’re not plastered all over the news because there’s a big upset.

“We want to make sure we are professional, we are diligent, we do the job that needs to be done and we’re through to the next round.”