Blackpool friendly fixtures just right for Terry McPhillips' first pre-season in charge

McPhillips’ men will follow that three days later with a short midweek trip to Mill Farm to take on National League neighbours AFC Fylde.

The following Saturday, Pool will split their squad for two friendlies on the same day away at Barrow and Altrincham.

The Seasiders will then finish their pre-season campaign with a trip to Southport on Tuesday, July 23 and a home game against Blackburn Rovers on July 27.

The club are also likely to play a couple of behind-closed-doors friendlies, one of these expected to be against Dundee during their training camp at St Andrews.

McPhillips said: “It’s been good planning my first pre-season.

“We’ve been to St Andrews in Scotland in previous years and that’s worked, so we’ll do that again.

“We’ll have 10 days here in Blackpool first but then we’ll travel up to St Andrews, where it’s a hell of a set-up. The pitches are lovely.

“We can get some really good work done there. We’ll do some fitness training and then play Dundee on the Tuesday.

“It’s a stunning part of the country up there and we’re all looking forward to it.

“The friendlies we’ve got are not too different to last season, where we’ve got a couple of games on the same day.

“That’s because the further you go into pre-season, the more 90 minutes you can get into as many players as possible the better. I think that’s important.

“I think we’ll have enough players to do that. Some of the young lads we’ve signed from the Under-18s will get a chance, which is good. That’s progress for us.

“We’ll also use the rest of the squad we’ve been left with as well as any other additions we’re hoping to make.”

It is rare for Blackpool to arrange a home friendly, having last staged one in 2016.

But with no concert planned for Bloomfield Road this summer and the fans returning to the stadium, Pool have managed to add a date against Championship side Blackburn.

This will be the first test of the club’s renovated pitch and McPhillips added: “I can’t remember a pre-season friendly at Bloomfield Road but now we can plan for that with the progress we’ve made.

“The new pitch will be ready for the Blackburn game.”

The 2019-20 League One fixtures will be revealed on Thursday, June 20 and the campaign gets under way on August 3.