Source: Team_Talk
Holloway hails Taylor-Fletcher
lackpool boss Ian Holloway hailed Gary Taylor-Fletcher's brilliant winner at Hull as proof his side can still be a force in the Championship.[LNB] Taylor-Fletcher, who scored the Seasiders' first Premier League goal on the opening day of last season, lashed home a glorious angled effort nine minutes from time to settle an open game at the KC Stadium.[LNB]Blackpool have seen their two most impressive players last term, playmaker Charlie Adam and striker DJ Campbell, leave for Liverpool and QPR respectively this summer, but showed plenty of resilience to keep out a Hull side who were made to pay for a host of missed chances.[LNB]"It's not all doom and gloom, not at all," Holloway said on Sky Sports One.[LNB]"Let's see what we can do, everybody's written us off again.[LNB]"Taylor-Fletcher is just a brilliant footballer, he's got such happy feet. At this level you need that little bit of fantastic skill. He's a wonderful lad, great player. To think he started in non-league, he's ended up playing in the top flight and you can see he wants to get back there. If someone hasn't taken him now then I'm lucky because he's with me.[LNB]"I want to prove that it's not just the players we've lost that were good. I want these lads to shine again and for me they did tonight in a very tough fixture."[LNB]The visitors took some time to get going and Hull almost went ahead in the 12th minute.[LNB]Tom Cairney's curling left-footed free-kick from 30 yards looked headed for the top corner only to come back off the post.[LNB]At the other end, debutant Kevin Phillips, 38 years old but still a handful, fired a fierce shot which had goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi beaten but hit the outside of the post.[LNB]Hull had enough chances to earn at least a point in the second half.[LNB]Matt Fryatt was sent clean through, but a heavy touch allowed Matt Gilks to smother his shot and Nick Barmby curled the rebound over the bar, while Robbie Brady, who was causing all sorts of problems with his pace down the wings, pulled back a low cross for Cairney, who was denied by an excellent block by Craig Cathcart.[LNB]Substitute Jay Simpson should have equalised in the dying moments when a long ball found him in space with the goal at his mercy, but he shot horribly over the bar.[LNB]Holloway added: "I think that's a rude awakening for all of us. You muck and mess about in the Premier League and think it's lovely stuff.[LNB]"They give you a little bit of time on the ball and they all back off a little bit.[LNB]"Now it's hurly burly, but I'm delighted for the lads, we've had a tough few weeks and it's always about getting the game started. We've had a terrible pre-season, we haven't played well at all, but we have tonight so that's all that matters."[LNB]Hull boss Nigel Pearson rued his side's missed chances.[LNB]He told Sky Sports News: "To be fair to them (Blackpool), they defended well when they had to.[LNB]"I feel that we've been mugged a bit tonight because the number of chances that we've made, we should be taking them.[LNB]"But there you go, that's the Championship for you. It's a steep learning curve for some of our lads.[LNB]"A disappointing start, of course, because pre-season having gone as well as it's gone, it would have been nice to get off to a winning start but that's not the case.[LNB]"But there's always going to be positives from games like today and so although the players are disappointed at the moment, it's about picking them up and going again next week."
