Rob Edwards’ own goal gave the home side the lead but Peter Clarke’s header levelled the scores before half time.

Keith Southern then put Blackpool in front on 78 minutes but Gareth Williams equalised four minutes later to force a replay.

“I am delighted with the result because the team stuck with the pattern that we started with,” Hendry said.

“We did very well because Leicester are a big club but we managed to get our noses in front. They made it difficult for us but we hung on and we are glad to be in the hat for the next round.

“We now need to carry the confidence we showed into the league because the next stage of our season is very important for us.

“The vision and great things we had at the beginning of the season haven’t really worked out and we need to stabilise the situation from now on.”

Alan Maybury and Mark De Vries – signed by Leicester manager Craig Levein from his former club Hearts for a combined fee of £100,000 (€143,300) – were left on the bench while Kevin Pressman was in goal as Arsenal did not want the on loan Stuart Taylor cup-tied.

Blackpool Gareth Evans was suspended while keeper Kevin Ellegaard – on loan from Manchester City – started in place of the injured Brad Jones.

Blackpool almost stole a shock lead in the third minute when former City favourite Simon Grayson put Keigan Parker through for a one to one with Pressman, but the keeper stood his ground with the shot rebounding off him and the danger was cleared.

It was to prove a costly miss for the Tangerines who fell behind in the 12th minute through an own goal Edwards tried to clear a Gareth Williams free-kick but instead guided his header from eight yards into his own net.

After surviving a period of sustained pressure, Blackpool were level on 31 minutes.

City’s Chris Makin fouled Danny Coid and the home defence failed to clear Parker’s free-kick to enable Clarke to score at the far post with a stooping header.

Leicester dominated the second half but were unable to break down resolute Blackpool.

And it was the visitors who took a shock lead on 78 minutes when Southern stole the ball off a hesitant Dion Dublin and surged into the penalty area before calmly slotting the ball beyond Pressman from 10 yards.

But Leicester equalised within four minutes when David Connolly crossed from the by-line for Williams to score with a thunderous shot from six yards.

Levein said: “The result was disappointing because I felt we had enough chances to win two or three games.

“At home we just don’t seem to be able to kill off the opposition. We seem to be getting punished for all our mistakes, like when Dublin lost the ball.

“But I was encouraged because I thought we showed good courage which was good for team bonding.

“All we can do is get a good team spirit going and learn to fight tooth and nail. I was pleased with De Vries and Maybury when they came on in the second half because they gave us energy and a positive attitude. De Vries is only 50% fit and it will be a week or two before we see the best of him.”