SURVIVAL in the Second Division is the first aim for Blackpool FC's management team which will have to prove the bookies wrong to mount a second successive promotion bid.

Pool assistant manager Mark Seagraves admits the first task for the Tangerines is to make sure they hang on to their Division Two status, but he stresses that the aim within the camp will be to turn the odds on their head and go straight through the division at the first attempt.

"Firstly we have got to stay in this league. But that's not all we want. We want to take it on from there and finish as high as we can.

"But staying in the league is the first priority," he said. Blackpool have been made 40/1 outsiders with bookmakers William Hill to win the Division Two title. They are 7/1 to win promotion and 5/1 to be relegated, but the Seasiders can take heart from how Rotherham made fools of the bookies' odds last season, coming from 33/1 at the start of the season to go up for the second successive year.

As the Seasiders prepare to open their campaign at home to title favourites Reading on August 11, their team strengthening efforts might get an unlikely boost.

Chairman Karl Oyston said that any extra money from Pool's compensation claim over Gary Megson's exit as manager four years ago will be ploughed into the club.

A High Court case being heard in Manchester this week centred on the circumstances surrounding Megson's departure from the Pool manager's post four years ago.

Blackpool are claiming up to £1m in compensation from Stockport, saying that County made an illegal approach and poached Megson. The judge hearing the case is expected to announce his decision today (Thursday)

"If we win, the money will go into the club either to spend on players or to reduce deficits," said Mr Oyston.

He is delighted by the way the stadium is progressing. "It is fantastic. I take any excuse to go and have a look at it," he said

His only frustration is that a lot of Pool's high-profile home games this season will take place before the new stands open in November.

"The fixture list has been a bit unkind in that we have got the likes of Reading, Stoke, QPR, Wigan and Chesterfield at home before November when we will be at a reduced capacity." He said the new stands are likely to be opened on either November 10 or November 20 for the home games against Swindon or Notts County.