Barnet boss Martin Allen says he picked defender Sam Muggleton to face Blackpool following his performance at Oxford United, rather than to take advantage of a specific Pool weakness.

The 19-year-old left-back was deployed to great effect in a left midfield role in the shock 3-2 win at the Kassam Stadium last month.

And he was utilised once more down left of the midfield four as League One Blackpool were dispatched 2-0 in the FA Cup first round at The Hive on Saturday.

Muggleton again put it one of his best performances in black and amber and speaking afterwards, Allen explained his decision to hand the former Gillingham defender just his third start of the season in all competitions.

He said: “It wasn’t so much to do with Blackpool and what their players can do and their abilities.

“When we went to Oxford a couple of weeks ago I picked him to play on the left side of midfield and what he does is unique and it’s very difficult to play against.

“We played against a Premier League manager (Alan Pardew and Crystal Palace) in pre-season here.

"The Weapon, as I call him, had the opportunity to throw it into the box but he threw it short and Alan Pardew turned round to me and said ‘Thank God he didn’t keep putting that in the box like that’.

“It’s a threat at Premier League level, it’s a threat at any level, it’s difficult to defend, it moves our team higher up the pitch and I think we’ve seen today he’s got much better as a player.”

Allen added: “I don’t think anyone could deny he played well and the threat of the long throw is always there.

“It’s a lot of running to get from the six yard box up to the penalty box to score another goal and if you repeatedly do that, we’ve seen it can be successful.

“We probably won’t use it every week but, as we’ve seen, different horses are going to run on different courses."

You can read Martin Allen's reaction to victory over Blackpool by clicking here.