Blackpool boss on leaving out Nathan Shaw out of his side for league opener, what he made of Demetri Mitchell's debut and latest on James Husband's injury

With James Husband missing through injury, many Pool fans had suggested Nathan Shaw could take his place for the weekend trip to Home Park following a string of impressive performances in pre-season from the 19-year-old.

However, while Shaw travelled down to Devon with his teammates he was left out of the 18-man squad altogether.

Critchley instead opted to hand a debut to Demetri Mitchell, the former Manchester United man making his first competitive appearance since signing on a free transfer.

“It was a really tough choice to make because Nathan had done well in the week,” Critchley told The Gazette.

“When you’ve got a healthy squad of players and there’s competition, then sometimes people are going to miss out that people could argue the other way.

“That’s football sometimes.”

Mitchell didn’t disappoint though and was arguably Blackpool’s standout performer in their frustrating 1-0 defeat.

The 23-year-old, who has endured a tough time of it in recent years with serious injuries, was withdrawn on 71 minutes.

“I thought he was good, he provided a real attacking outlet for us,” Critchley added.

“Obviously when you’re playing against a back five, sometimes there isn’t a lot of space for him to attack but he used the ball well.

“He rarely wasted the ball, he defended well and I was really pleased with his performance.”

As for Husband, he missed out after picking up a hamstring injury during the warm-up prior to Blackpool’s EFL Trophy game against Barrow.

The knock isn’t thought to be too serious though and Critchley is hopeful of having him back in contention for Saturday’s home game against Swindon Town.

“He’s not far away, I’m hopeful he’ll train next week and be available for the Swindon game,” he said.