Blackpool boss isn't shocked by Ryan Wintle's impact at Cardiff City

The Seasiders will be reunited with the midfielder this afternoon when Critchley’s men take on the Bluebirds in South Wales.

The 24-year-old had been due to spend the season at Bloomfield Road but was recalled at the start of January.

Since then, he’s made eight appearances under Steve Morison and, according to reports, has been in impressive form.

“I’m not at all surprised by that,” Critchley told The Gazette.

“Ryan was fantastic for us and I fully understood why Cardiff wanted to recall him in January.

“He’s gone into their team and has helped them improve their form because they’ve picked up some good results. That doesn’t surprise me.

“It will be good to see him. I know he enjoyed it here but he’s a Cardiff player and he’s in their team at the moment, so it will be nice to see him but hopefully we can put one over on him on Saturday afternoon.”

Blackpool will be looking to inflict revenge on Cardiff for the 2-0 win they earned at Bloomfield Road in their first home game of the season.

Then under the management of Mick McCarthy, the Bluebirds looked a good bet to challenge for the top six in the Championship.

However, the Welsh outfit plummeted down the table, resulting in McCarthy being sacked in October after overseeing eight straight defeats.

While the Bluebirds are in good form and have won four of their last five, they remain below the Seasiders in the league table.

Addressing Cardiff’s drop down the division, Critchley said: “It surprised me and the staff because, off the back of that game, they looked a big, strong, powerful team with experience and good quality in certain areas of the pitch.

“They had a good, experienced manager too so you’re thinking they could be up there.

“For reasons I don’t know about, it’s not quite gone how they would have wanted this season but they’ve still got similar players and we know it’s still going to be a tough game because they’re in good form and they’re at home.

“We’ve come a long way since the start of the season though and we’ve improved a lot.

“There were reasons why we weren’t quite there at the start of the season. We were learning as we were going at that point and I’ve taken a lot from that spell and we will be in better shape to play Cardiff.”

Pool have received positive news about the extent of the hamstring injury Marvin Ekpiteta suffered against Bournemouth last week.

While the defender is unlikely to feature against Cardiff, as he hasn’t trained all week, the 26-year-old won’t face an extended period on the sidelines as first feared.

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