Blackpool staff are continually seeking ways to minimise injuries

Neil Critchley says Blackpool are always looking at ways of preventing injuries.
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The Seasiders will be without a host of names for this weekend’s game against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Chris Maxwell and Shayne Lavery are the latest to be sidelined and will remain out of action for a number of weeks.

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Daniel Gretarsson will miss out this weekend with mild concussion, but Richard Keogh could come back into contention having recovered from his groin injury.

Shayne Lavery limped off against Blackburn Rovers in Blackpool's last outingShayne Lavery limped off against Blackburn Rovers in Blackpool's last outing
Shayne Lavery limped off against Blackburn Rovers in Blackpool's last outing
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Blackpool boss Neil Critchley pays tribute to Preston North End owner Trevor Hem...

The likes of Reece James, Matty Virtue, Grant Ward, Owen Dale and CJ Hamilton are also continuing to recover from knocks of varying degrees.

Blackpool have had plenty of bad luck with injuries throughout Critchley’s tenure at Bloomfield Road.

When asked if he can put his finger on why that might be, Pool’s head coach told The Gazette: “If you look at the intensity of the league and the games, the demands placed on the players is greater than League One.

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“We’re always looking at ways of improving, how the players recover, their nutrition, the training, how often we train, the type of training etc.

“We have good communication among all the staff and we speak about it a lot.

“If it’s a contact injury, like Matty Virtue or CJ Hamilton, there’s very little you can do, but if they’re muscle injuries, you’re always looking to see whether or not we could have prevented that.

“I don’t think it’s just us though. If you look at the Blackburn game, Sam Gallagher came off and they also had injuries leading into that game.

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“I’m sure there are plenty of other teams around the country that have injuries.

“Because of the game schedule and the way the game has changed and how fast and intense the games are, I think injuries are becoming much more of the norm in football.

“That’s why having a squad that is strong in numbers and strong in quality and multi-functional, if you like, definitely helps.

“We saw the benefit of that last season and hopefully we’ll have the benefit again this year.”

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