Holloway praises Southern strength

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway hailed Keith Southern's mental strength after watching his captain for the day marshal the Tangerines to a 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday - just two months after having a tumour removed from one of his testicles.

The 30-year-old, playing his first match since November, received a rapturous ovation at Bloomfield Road as Blackpool claimed an FA Cup fourth-round replay thanks to Kevin Phillips' last-gasp penalty.

The Owls afforded Southern little courtesy and took the lead through Clinton Morrison while he was lying injured with a nasty-looking gash on his ankle. But Holloway believes it is a measure of the man that he did not even want treatment to the injury - heralding his return to the side as "almost a fairy tale".

He said: "I gave him the captaincy because he thoroughly deserves it and now he's gone and got another cut - life is a funny thing. He's got somewhere to slip his pyjamas now, I've never seen a gash like it, it's a great big hole.

"Even that bout of cancer he had didn't keep him out for more than five weeks so it's only a little gash.

"We let him have some time off. He's all clear at the moment but the problem is that worry you're going to have to keep checking and when it is the `c' word ,it's horrible. I've never known a bloke mentally as strong as him on and off the pitch. We're one big family here."