Ryan Finnigan was handed a rare start for Blackpool in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Gillingham.

The midfielder arrived on the Fylde Coast from Southampton at the beginning of the year with a pre-existing injury, but was able to build up his fitness during pre-season.

After picking up some minutes at the start of the campaign, a dead leg proved to be another setback, with game time limited since.

Reflecting on the 20-year-old’s outing at Priestfield Stadium, Blackpool coach Stephen Dobbie said: “It’s been a bit stop-start, he’s had a few injuries, but we see his quality in training,” he said.

“In the last few games it’s been Albie (Morgan) and Evo (Lee Evans) in there doing well, but we’re now getting players back from injury and it’s going to be a fight to keep the shirt.

“Ryan did himself no harm today.”

Dobbie admits competition is heating up in a number of areas, with a number of players edging closer to making their returns from injury.

“We’ve got Elkan (Baggott) coming back, we know his qualities,” he added.

“CJ (Hamilton), Hubby (James Husband) and Norbs (Ollie Norburn) aren’t too far. You need people always pressing each other to get into the team so we’re going into a good phase.”