Blackpool took on Salford City in their penultimate pre-season friendly of the summer.

Steve Bruce states a number of Blackpool players are set to miss the start of the League One campaign - while others are due to return for Saturday’s pre-season meeting with Doncaster Rovers.

Both Jordan Brown and Niall Ennis were absent from the game against Salford City at Moor Lane, after previously being involved in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over West Brom.

CJ Hamilton was the other player to drop out completely, after suffering a shoulder injury against the Baggies.

Fraser Horsfall was able to return to action, but Albie Morgan and Tom Bloxham remained unavailable.

Reflecting on the Seasiders’ injury situation after the 0-0 draw with Salford, Bruce said: “Our big thing is to avoid any more injuries. We’ve picked up four or five unfortunately, with CJ being the one from Saturday.

“We’ve had others with a couple of niggles, so we are taking the risk away at the moment, so it was a typical friendly that bored everyone to death.

“Jordan and Niall will both train Thursday - I didn’t want to risk them. One got a calf and one got a bit of a thigh, so they will play Saturday. No major headaches.

“Tom Bloxham will be a week, or two weeks maybe. We’re looking towards the start of the season with him. He’s another one with a calf injury.

“For a team who wants to play with wide players, we’ve unfortunately lost CJ, we’ve lost Sonny (Carey), we’ve lost Rob, and now we’ve lost Bloxham. It’s taken the momentum out of the team. There’s still a long way to go in the window, so we’ll be doing our utmost to fill in the gaps that are pretty noticeable.

“Albie Morgan has a thigh, which is similar to this time last season. It’s disappointing. All of pre-season is about getting them in their best physical condition, but football is football. You can do as much running as you like, but as soon as the balls come out and there’s contact - you pick up a couple of injuries. That’s the way it is.”

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