Blackpool boss Neil Critchley jokes he'll have to lock Sunderland loanee Elliot Embleton in a 'dark room' ahead of this weekend's pivotal clash

Embleton is currently on loan with Blackpool from the Stadium of Light, so will be ineligible this weekend and won’t be able to feature.

The 22-year-old has been in fine form for the Seasiders in recent weeks, scoring his first goal for the club during the recent 4-1 win against Gillingham.

He's made 13 appearances in total since making the loan move to Bloomfield Road in January.

“He will be a miss because he’s been excellent in the last few games,” Critchley told The Gazette.

“He took a knock towards the end of the game on Tuesday night (0-0 draw against Accrington Stanley) and he’s got some ice on his knee, so hopefully that’s not too serious.

“He carried on though and he didn’t look in too much bother.

“He’s been excellent for us, but I shall have to think about what he’s going to do for the next few days when we’re putting our plan together - I might have to make sure he’s sitting in a dark room somewhere.”

The Black Cats have stuttered a little in the past week, having lost back-to-back games against Charlton Athletic and Wigan Athletic respectively.

It leaves Lee Johnson’s side in third, five points adrift of the automatic promotion spots with six games remaining.

On Sunderland’s recent setbacks, Critchley said: “You never know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“Good teams don’t often lose twice on the bounce, but they are a good team. You only have to look at the strength of their depth, it is arguably the strongest in the division when you look at who they’ve got on the bench. It’s what you class as an automatic promotion team.

“To lose two on the bounce, they won’t want to make it a hat-trick but maybe there is a little bit of pressure on them as well.

“We can look forward to a really good game on Saturday and we can go for it.”

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 for your first month. Try us today by clicking here