Blackpool boss Neil Critchley reveals news from Marvin Ekpiteta's scan on his hamstring injury

Blackpool are likely to be without defender Marvin Ekpiteta for an extended period of time.

That’s according to head coach Neil Critchley, who revealed the club had received bad news from the 24-year-old’s scan on Thursday.

It comes after Ekpiteta, who had started every league game up until yesterday’s 1-0 win against Portsmouth, suffered a hamstring injury during last week’s 1-0 win against Rochdale.

“It’s not great news unfortunately,” Critchley told The Gazette.

“He’s going to be out for a decent period of time, it’s more like a CJ Hamilton and Daniel Gretarsson type of injury.

“It’s really unfortunate, it’s a big blow.

“But Danny Ballard stepped in yesterday and I thought he was fantastic playing up against a real top striker in this league and he kept him quiet.”

The Seasiders are already without the likes of Gretarsson, Keshi Anderson, Hamilton and Gary Madine through injury.

All four would be considered first-team players if fit and available.

Nevertheless, Critchley’s side have coped well in their absence, with yesterday’s big win at Fratton Park making it four wins from five in League One.

“They’re big players we’re missing, really big players,” Critchley added.

“We don’t moan about it, we don’t make any excuses, we just get on with it and find a solution.

“We show belief in what we’ve got and we’ve gone to Portsmouth with big players missing and still deservedly won the game.

“They might have one or two injuries but it’s not like (John) Marquis is out, (Sean) Raggett or players like that. But we’ve gone there and given a great account of ourselves.”

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