Blackpool man spotted watching Seasiders play-off rivals- here's what Neil Critchley said about his absence

While the Seasiders were progressing to the semi-finals of the EFL Trophy with a victory on penalties over Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night, the wing-back was spotted watching Oxford United’s 2-2 draw with Portsmouth.

The 25-year-old made the move to Bloomfield Road from Crewe Alexandra back in 2022, but his time in Tangerine could be coming to an end, with the Kassam Stadium seemingly set to be his next destination.

Sharing a photo of the Seasiders man, BBC Radio Oxford Sport wrote: “Owen Dale in the crowd for Oxford Utd’s 2-2 draw against Portsmouth. #oufc boss Des Buckingham when asked about Dale joining the U’s: ‘There’s probably some more news in the next 24 hours.’”

Dale has missed Blackpool’s last two outings, with both Hayden Coulson and Andy Lyons being named ahead of him. The competition for the Seasiders’ left wing-back position has already seen Dominic Thompson head out on loan to Forest Green Rovers this month.

When asked about the absence of the ex-Railwaymen academy product, Seasiders boss Neil Critchley said: “I can only pick 16 outfield players. There were quite a few players missing against Bolton- that was the squad, I imagine it’ll be different on Saturday against Stevenage.

"I’m not going to speak about individual players and where they are going to be, I’d be here forever if I spoke about players we’d been linked with in the last few days- some are true, some aren’t true. We had other players that weren’t in the squad too.”