Buckle guided Torquay to last season's FA Trophy final
Torquay boss Paul Buckle revealed he was close to leaving match-winner Matt Green out of his starting XI in the FA Cup third round win over Blackpool.
The striker has yet to establish himself as a first-team regular, but scored the goal in the 1-0 win over their Championship opponents.
"His Torquay career has not really started yet," said Buckle.
"It would have been easy to leave him out but I've backed him and all that has been lacking was the finish."
Former Cardiff City and Newport County forward Green's superb 20-yard strike in the 32nd minute earned the Blue Square Premier team a famous victory at Plainmoor.
"I'm very proud, I've had some fantastic times since I've been manager of the club and this is right up there," said Buckle.
"I didn't want my players to be afraid, we were backed by a big crowd and thoroughly deserved the win - there was no luck involved today, the better team won.
"I always look at the stats after the game because it's a true reflection and we limited Blackpool to very little."
Blackpool's preparations had been disrupted after the loss of six players on loan returning to their clubs.
And caretaker boss Tony Parkes admitted his side did not deserve anything from the match, a defeat which extends their winless run to six games.
"I don't know what happened to us, performances were poor right through the team," he said.
"We created very little and if you don't create much you don't score goals. The loan players have been some of our better ones and missing them we don't have a big enough squad to cope.
"It's a blow for the players, myself and everybody involved with Blackpool but hopefully we can recover next week."
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