SEASIDERS' assistant manager Mark Seagraves has defended the decision of the club's coaching staff to start pre-season training just six weeks after the team's victory in the Third Division play-off final at Cardiff.

A number of players were hoping for an extended break before returning for pre-season training after they gained promotion so dramatically.

But they would have been disappointed to find that training was to begin on July 5, though Seagraves insists the early start is for a specific purpose.

He said: "We need to get off to a far better start than we did last time around. It is important that we pick up from where we left off because I doubt that the lads will have lost too much fitness.

" We don't want to be in a position of having to win each of our last six games again."

Meanwhile Seagraves has given his backing to the restructuring of the early rounds of the Worthington Cup.

This season's competition will feature only single leg ties in the early rounds, instead of two legs, and Seagraves feels that the change will breathe fresh life into the early stages. He said: "The old two-leg system had probably served its purpose. When one team had built up a commanding lead from the first leg, the returns became non-events. This season's first round comes in the second week of the season instead of being on top of us straight away, as it had been previously."

The Seasiders have been drawn against Wigan Athletic in the first round on August 21, and Seagraves is already looking forward to the game.

He added: "Our home tie with Wigan should be an exciting one -- they have proved to be a good side in recent seasons."

Blackpool FC won their High Court case against Stockport County for the poaching of former Pool manager Gary Megson in 1997.

Judge Heggarty delivered his verdict last Thursday, but a decision on the amount of compensation that Pool will receive will not be made until later in the year.

Club chairman Karl Oyston commented: "We're a realistic club in that we understand that when our manager, coaches or players are doing well other clubs will be interested in them.

"However, Stockport went about appointing Megson in a totally unacceptable way.

"This case was more about the principle and not the money, and I'm glad that the court judgement has borne out the fact that Stockport went about it in the wrong way.

"There is likely to be a wait before we hear about any compensation but any money will go back into club funds."

The club's former chairman, Owen Oyston, says he hopes that the court ruling is a warning to other clubs. Mr Oyston said: "I hope this ruling serves as a warning to the whole of the game when it comes to the appointing of managers. Football clubs need to work together, not against each other." Season tickets update BLACKPOOL FC say that season ticket applications are being processed, but it will take two weeks to complete the input and settle any outstanding queries. Meanwhile all outstanding receipts have now been posted ou. The club says everybody will be contacted as soon as possible -- probably in three weeks' time -- to be given details of the arrangements for selection of seats in the new stands,

Ticketing arrangements for the Athletic Bilbao game will be finalised as soon as the season ticket input has been completed.