Blackpool boss Michael Appleton addresses the severity of Chris Maxwell's groin injury

The 32-year-old missed the trip to Cardiff City on Saturday after tweaking his groin in training.

According to Blackpool’s head coach, Maxwell first felt the injury on Thursday when the Seasiders were forced to train on a 4G pitch due to the frozen conditions.

“He tweaked his groin in training on Friday,” Appleton explained.

“It’s been a bit challenging for us finding a place to train over the last few days but he first felt it on Thursday.

“He felt it would be okay to train on Friday but he had to pull out.”

When asked how long Maxwell is likely to be sidelined for, Appleton told The Gazette: “I don’t think it’s too bad, he just didn’t feel comfortable pushing off and kicking beyond 10/15 yards.

“I think it was more of a sensible decision for him. He didn’t want to let anyone down rather than make it any worse.

“He’s at an age now where he can make sensible decisions, he’s more experienced so what happened last year with his injuries has possibly made him think about it and be a bit more clever.”

Maxwell’s setback provided an unexpected return to the side for Dan Grimshaw, who was dropped as Blackpool’s number one 10 games into the season.

The 24-year-old made two or three important saves against Cardiff on Saturday but was also left in no man’s land for the Bluebirds’ goal during the first half.

Appleton felt the shot stopper was a “little rusty” for Kion Etete’s goal but was otherwise pleased with how the former Man City man performed.

“He didn’t have an awful lot to do in the second half but sometimes you need one moment and he made a decent save,” he added.

“He’s been out of the side for a while so you could tell he was a bit rusty for the goal but people show character and personality to come back from an error.”

In the absence of Maxwell and suspended defender Marvin Ekpiteta, Gary Madine wore the captain’s armband against his former club on Saturday.

However, Ekpiteta returns to the fold for the trip to Hull City on Boxing Day after serving his two-match ban.