Paul Ince hopeful son Thomas Ince will stay at Blackpool

Blackpool manager Paul Ince has declared that he remains hopeful that son Thomas Ince will stay at Bloomfield Road this season.

Ince turned down a move Cardiff City earlier this summer, preferring to hold out for a move to a more established Premier League side.

With less than a month left until the transfer window closes Ince has conceded that there continues to be interest in his son's signature, but with numbers short at Blackpool his stay would prove to be a huge boost.

He told Sky Sports News: "It would be nice to keep him, obviously. He's a quality player and there has been plenty of interest for him, but it just shows how thin we were on the ground today.

"We have had to play more or less the same team from Saturday [against Preston]. Two high intensity games, Doncaster away on Saturday and then a derby here. It just shows how light we are on the bench and how light we are strength-wise.

"We didn't really want to play Michael Chopra and Steven Davies for 90 minutes but we had to keep them on because, attacking-wise, we are short."

The Seasiders suffered their first defeat of the season last night in the League Cup, losing 1-0 at local rivals Preston North End.