Blackpool boss Simon Grayson vows: No loan move for Joe Nuttall

Fellow Pool striker Ryan Hardie was sent out on loan to League Two Plymouth Argyle last week, sparking speculation that Nuttall could benefit from a similar arrangement.

But Grayson has firmly ruled out that idea, making it clear Nuttall will remain in his plans for the remainder of the campaign.

The Pool boss insisted: “Joe will be staying here because we’ve spent a lot of money on him and we still think there’s a player there.

“If I put a circular out tomorrow about Joe Nuttall’s availability, every club in League One would take him.

“That was the case in August when we signed him. Blackburn even had opportunities from Championship clubs as well.

“We still think there’s a lot more to come from Joe Nuttall and he knows that himself. He’s had certain issues he’s having to cope with and people don’t realise what it’s all about.

“Has he had a run of games where he can really show his true potential? Probably not. But he has to do a little bit more to show people what he is capable of because I’ve got a huge amount of positivity about him. David Dunn (Pool’s former Blackburn coach) knows him a lot as well.

“Sometimes new players don’t settle in as well at a club as they would like to do, but he’s only 22 and this is his first spell of first-team football.

“At Blackburn he was in and around the team, albeit not regularly, but this is his first spell of first-team football where it really matters.

“We think there’s a huge amount of potential that will be fulfilled by Joe.”

Grayson says Hardie still has a role to play at Bloomfield Road too.

The 22-year-old, who signed from Rangers last summer, scored on his Plymouth debut in Saturday’s 3-0 win against Carlisle United.

Grayson added: “I still think Ryan has a good future at this football club but it reached the point that the lad needed to go and play regular first-team football.

“At this moment his pathway is blocked by other people. It’s not because we don’t rate Ryan.

“Has he set the world alight in training and in the games when he has had opportunities? Probably not but there’s still a player there we think is good.

“He’s now got a good opportunity to go and play 15-20 games at Plymouth, get some goals and we’ll certainly be watching him all the time.

“I saw his goal at the weekend and it’s a great goal. We’ve seen that at times in training but we haven’t seen him do that enough.”