Blackpool FC: Three talking points from the Seasiders' victory over Forest Green Rovers

Blackpool progressed to the third round of the FA Cup with a victory over Forest Green (Photographer Alex Dodd / CameraSport)

Goals from Owen Dale, Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel and Marvin Ekpiteta helped Neil Critchley’s side brush past the League Two visitors to Bloomfield Road.

The Seasiders will now come up against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on January 7.

Here’s some of the talking points from the game:

A strong display

Blackpool always looked in control of the tie and were dominant throughout. They did have to be patient when breaking down Forest Green but managed the game well on the whole- with Richard O’Donnell not having anything too dangerous to deal with.

There was a bit of luck for Dale’s opener, while Ekpiteta’s came from his quick reactions. It was Lawrence-Gabriel’s goal that had the most quality, with a calm finish coming after a great pass from Ollie Norburn.

Following the postponement of the tie on December 2, the timing of this game wasn’t ideal, but the Seasiders made the best of a bad situation.

Neil Critchley pinpoints positives from Blackpool's victory over Forest Green Ro...

Joseph’s first start

Kyle Joseph has been forced to be patient since making the move to Bloomfield Road, due to his game time being severely limited because of injury.

In the last month he’s featured regularly off the bench, but Tuesday night finally gave him the chance to make his first start for the Seasiders.

He’s still getting up to speed, and a couple of wasted chances highlighted that. He certainly knows which areas to get into, so it could be exciting when he’s over that rustiness.

Virtue returns

Matty Virtue was handed his first start since September- following a spell on the sidelines through injury.

He had previously picked up minutes off the bench in the game against Carlisle United, but this was his first real test.

Throughout his time on the pitch he looked impressive, and complimented Albie Morgan well. You couldn’t really tell that he hadn’t played that amount of minutes for an extended period of time.

The midfielder had put in a number of impressive displays prior to his injury, and he’ll now be hoping to find those levels again.