Blackpool injury update issued - with major blow raised ahead of Reading trip

CJ Hamilton has been hit with a major injury blow - with the wing-back set to spend the next 10-12 weeks on the sidelines.

After being introduced off the bench in Wednesday night’s 2-1 defeat to Barnsley, the 31-year-old was on the end of a challenge that has led to a serious knee problem.

Seasiders skipper George Honeyman suffered a blow in the game at Oakwell as well, and will also drop out of Ian Evatt’s squad for their trip to Reading this weekend.

Since making the move to Bloomfield Road from Millwall last summer, the midfielder has endured his fair of injury woe - including a disrupted pre-season this time around.

The midfielder will now be absent until the other side of the upcoming international break.

Providing an update, Evatt said: “The one that no one was really aware of is CJ. The tackle in which he received the yellow card, he picked up quite a significant knee injury. He’s damaged his lateral ligament, so he’s going to be missing for 10-12 weeks.

“Unfortunately in football you can’t afford tackles, so there’s nothing anyone could do to prevent it; it was just hard luck. We are going to miss him because he can play in so many different positions and gives us a lot of flexibility.

“George has picked up a slight calf injury so he’ll be missing until the international window. It’s another injury that isn’t ideal, but again, it happens. Again, we’ll do what we can to get him back as quickly as possible.”

There is more positive news for Ilmari Niskanen - who made the summer move to the Fylde Coast from Exeter.

The wing-back endured a frustrating competitive debut in Tangerine, after being forced off with a shoulder injury away to Grimsby Town in the first round of the EFL Cup.

Meanwhile, Jordan Brown is also available again after suffering a seizure last month, with all tests now complete.

“Ilmari and Browny are back,” Evatt added.

“They’ll be back in the squad and back involved. When there’s injuries, it’s next man up.

“Fortunately for us, we’ve got Browny back, Leighton (Clarkson) is in good form, Karoy (Anderson) is playing out of his skin, and Albie (Morgan) is back fully fit, so we’ve got options there.”