Silkmen boss Keith Alexander was a delighted man after watching his side secure what in the end turned out to be a comfortable win against Championship side Blackpool at the Moss Rose this evening.

"I couldn't have asked for a better response from the lads tonight. It was a case of going back to basics and ensuring we worked hard and won our challenges. I was delighted with the way we competed, especially when clearing our lines and at times I thought we played some lovely football when going forward. It could have easily been three of four in the end."

"Saturday may just have been the wake up call we needed and we can take a lot of positives from the 90 minutes tonight into Saturday's game against Bradford."

"Everyone, including the fans, played their part and I thought Ahmed Deen was thoroughly deserving of his man of the match award. I believe he can go onto be a very good player for the club once he has adjusted to the pace of the game. But it would be wrong to single anyone out. I stuck with essentially the same team as I put out against Shrewsbury and they rewarded me with the sort of performance I know they are capable of, and one which I know we can improve on."

"I didn't really see the incident that resulted in the two sendings off. Terry is clearly very upset as he felt their player head butted him. But I've spoken to the referee who said they Terry led with his elbow. We'll obviously have to watch the video but in cases like this, unless it is a blatant mistake, it is all down to interpretation and therefore there's little to be gained from any appeal. But we will look at the tape but I suspect Terry will just have to take it on the chin and learn from the experience. He's a key player for us so to lose him for three games is a big loss but it's a chance for someone else to come in and seize their opportunity."

" A few of the lads picked are carrying knocks so they have a well deserved day off on Wednesday. But they'll be back on Thursday and we'll be looking to build on this when Bradford visit the Moss Rose on Saturday. Any hopefully the result tonight will encourage more fans to come along as we need to make our home advantage count."