Head Coach is disappointed the Reds are out of the FA Cup, but stressed the result MUST be taken in isolation.
Barnsley Head Coach Paul Heckingbottom was disappointed that his side could not mount a cup run, but insisted they must not let the result impact on their upcoming Championship fixtures.
Bright Osayi-Samuel’s finish in the 120th minute sent Blackpool into the fourth round of the FA Cup as 2-1 winners at the expense of the Reds.
The Reds host Leeds United this weekend in their first of two Yorkshire derbies, before travelling to Rotherham United the following Saturday.
Heckingbottom insisted the Reds must shift their focus quickly onto this weekend’s clash with the Whites under the lights at Oakwell.
He said: “I’m flat to be honest and a bit disappointed and gutted that we can’t have a cup run. It’s only looking at the stats that we did have more opportunities that I thought in the game.
“But we still didn’t do enough to win it so I’m just disappointed we’ve not got through.
“From a personal point of view, I’m no different to anyone else, you’d love to have a cup run and we saw what it did for us last year, albeit a different competition.
“It’s gone now though and we focus on two Yorkshire derbies coming up.
“That game [against Leeds United] will take care of itself in terms of energy and atmosphere.
“We might have to consider it with the starting players and the subs that we make because we want to finish the game just as strong as we start.
“The adrenalin and atmosphere for Saturday’s game and the live cameras will make sure everyone’s right.”
The Tangerines took the lead through Kelvin Mellor’s sixth goal of the season before Angus MacDonald levelled four minutes into the second half.
‘Hecky’ felt the visitors deserved credit for the way they set up against the Reds but still felt his side created enough chances to win the game.
“You have to credit Blackpool because they did make things difficult for us and we had to be really patient with the ball.
“They protected the space in front of their back four probably the best a team we’ve played against and they’d have probably come with that mentality to sit in and defend but they did it really well and starved our strikers of the ball.
“We did get some opportunities but for me it was a frustrating night and going behind didn’t help us, if we nick a goal and go in front it’s a different story,” he added.
Heckingbottom thought the Reds produced a much better performance than in the first meeting just over a week ago but was quick to insist it will not affect the Reds’ league form.
“We’ve just not played well enough, you take the cup games in isolation because they don’t have any bearing on the league whatsoever.
“It’s a different mindset against different opposition, one-off games so we take them out of the equation, but Fulham were better than us and I thought we were second-best.”
