Blackpool manager Simon Grayson believes his players will benefit from the 4-0 friendly defeat to Skonto Riga.The Seasiders were without a host of players in the latest game of their pre-season tour to Latvia.

Striker Stephen McPhee was also dismissed early on after a tangle with Skonto Riga's Igors Semjonovs, but both sides were allowed to bring on substitutes for the pair.

"Obviously I'm disappointed with the scoreline. First half we were up against a very strong Skonto Riga team who are 10 games into their season and second in their division," Grayson told the club's official website.

"They were a lot stronger than us physically and a lot sharper. It's not an ideal result but the players have got a lot of fitness out of it. It's difficult sometimes to get best result when you've got a lot of players in the stand injured.

"The players have had a difficult schedule, but I'm sure they will feel the benefit of a lot of games in a short space of time."

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