Tony Parkes was in the dugout as assistant manager for Blackpool for the first time on Tuesday night.

The Blackburn Rovers legend, who has been out of full time employment since he was controversially sacked by Mark Hughes 12 months ago, had originally turned down an approach to join Simon Grayson's backroom team.

But last week he took up his post.

Parkes said: "Simon phoned me a couple of weeks ago and at that time I thought it wasn't a good idea to go because there was so much instability at the club.

"But Simon kept pursuing me and I eventually agreed to meet him, we had a chat about a few things and the situation was a lot more positive than I initially thought.

"I then met the chairman, we spoke for an hour, and this has all come from there."

At the moment, Grayson has still not been given the manager's job on a permanent basis. But Parkes is optimistic he can help Grayson secure a long-term deal.

"It could be a month, it could be six weeks, it all depends on how results go when you are a caretaker," said Parkes.

"But I am hopeful we can get the job on a permanent basis."