Ollie rejects Phillips talk

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway issued a defiant message to Barclays Premier League clubs interested in star striker Matty Phillips after his second-half hat-trick ended Fleetwood’s hopes of an FA Cup upset.

Phillips produced three superb finishes to claim his second hat-trick in four games following a productive loan spell at Sheffield United earlier this season, while Lomana LuaLua and Tom Ince also scored for Blackpool in a 5-1 win.

Holloway said: “People will be looking at Phillips now but we’ve got him and if you’re a top five club, come and try and offer a lot of money for him. Why not sit and play in a team instead of rotting in someone’s reserves and never getting a look in? At the end of the day we’ve got in a situation where we don’t have to sell anyone.”

Holloway was full of praise for Micky Mellon’s gutsy Fleetwood side who were unlucky to trail to LuaLua’s 24th-minute opener with Blackpool’s stand-in keeper Mark Howard pulling off a string of fine saves.

Holloway added: “It was as tough a game as we have had for months. They (Fleetwood) were absolutely brilliant. I needed my goalkeeper to make all sorts of saves and we could not knock the stuffing out of them.

“That was probably the biggest banana skin I’ve had in my life and we’ve managed to come out in a no-win situation and play well. Thank God we had the quality of our finishing because that was one hell of a game of football.”

Fleetwood boss Mellon said: “Anyone who saw it would have to admit that out of six chances Blackpool have taken five and that is the difference between levels.

“Some of the football we played was absolutely superb but we got punished every time Blackpool went forward. Some of their finishing was absolutely top-drawer and we’re not used to that at this level.

“In between, some of the football we played was terrific. We had some chances in the first half and at 3-1. At times there definitely weren’t divisions between them but I’m not going to sit here and not give Blackpool credit.”

Source: http://www.itv.com/sport/football/facup/news/ollie-rejects-phillips-talk-64418/