FA Cup: Blackpool boss full of praise for Saints

But Bowyer admitted Blackpool’s performance against Saints was one of their worst of the season.

He said: “The objective at 2.55pm on Saturday was to get through and that’s what we’ve done. But that’s probably been our worst performance of the season from a playing with the ball point of view.

“But the character and desire to get through shone through, especially in the second half but they had to dig deep and it wasn’t easy. So fair play to them.”

Jamille Matt’s early goal was enough to separate the two sides at Bloomfield Road. And Bowyer paid tribute to Saints, who had the lion’s share of possession and the game’s clearest chances.

He added: “We started well and we got the early goal. Once you score early sometimes it can be a little bit more difficult because you can think it’s job done, and it wasn’t.

“It was a difficult game for us knowing that if we win and get through, people say they expected it. We knew what a difficult game it was going to be for us.

“I went to watch them myself, they knocked Gillingham out in the last round so we knew how difficult it was going to be.

“Full credit to their players and manager, I thought they were terrific. It just shows you how difficult it was.”