Blackpool take on Nottingham Forest in early Sky Sports kick-off - live updates from Bloomfield Road

Already a great atmosphere building from the away end, who inevitably boo the name of Richard Keogh.

The North Stand will be bouncing soon enough...

According to BetFair.

Blackpool: 21/10

Draw: 9/4

Nottingham Forest: 11/8

Neil Critchley opts to make just one change to his side front he team that started the last game, the goalless draw against Sheffield United prior to the international break.

Jerry Yates comes in for Callum Connolly as the Seasiders drop their five at the back to revert to 4-4-2.

Chris Maxwell, Richard Keogh and Keshi Anderson all return from injury to be included among the substitutes.

It means there is no room in the match day squad for Ethan Robson, Owen Dale or Charlie Kirk.

Jordan Gabriel, meanwhile, remains sidelined alongside Luke Garbutt, Matty Virtue, Grant Ward and Sonny Carey.

Nottingham Forest, who begin the day six points ahead of the Seasiders in ninth, make two changes to their starting XI.

There’s a lively feel around Bloomfield Road already thanks to Sky Sports’ involvement. There’s plenty of extra media in for this one too.

Former Pool assistant Steve Thompson, Don Goodman, Chris Iwelumo and Brian Laws are among the people working in the press box today.

With a far larger pool of players to choose from now, Neil Critchley has a number of selection dilemmas ahead of today’s game.

Despite Chris Maxwell’s return, you’d imagine Dan Grimshaw has done more than enough to retain his spot in goal.

In front of him, will the Seasiders stick with the 5-4-1 system they were using before the international break? Or revert back to 4-4-2?

Either way, Dujon Sterling, Marvin Ekpiteta and James Husband are likely to keep their place in the side, while the returning Richard Keogh will be pushing Jordan Thorniley for a centre-back spot.

Elsewhere, it will be interesting to see whether Critchley opts to stick with Kenny Dougall alongside Kevin Stewart in midfield following his travel to Sydney and Jeddah during the international break.

While the 28-year-old didn’t feature in either of Australia’s games, the impact of jet-lag and travel is something Critchley often factors in when selecting his side.

Josh Bowler will be fired up to star against the side that bid for him during the January transfer window, while the left winger’s role could be one of four players - with CJ Hamilton facing competition from the returning Keshi Anderson as well as Owen Dale and Charlie Kirk.

Up front, either Shayne Lavery or Jerry Yates will partner Gary Madine in attack should Critchley opt to start in a 4-4-2 system.

Here’s how we think the Seasiders might line up.

"You try and use the international breaks as wisely as you can,” Steve Cooper told the club’s official website.

“We obviously have quite a few boys go away, so we have to build a programme around the ones who are here and get some good work done.

"It was a busy period between the November window to this one and there is always a notoriously crammed schedule around Christmas as well as cancellations and postponements.

"I will always focus on one game at a time, but we also know that we're getting towards the business end of the season where things really start to take shape.

"We've got to be excited about what's coming, we're not going to fear anything. That's why you're in it, you want something to play for at the end of the season and you should thrive on that.

"You'd much rather be in a position with something to play for than not at this time of the year, so if that's the case then let's get excited.

"We have a tricky game on Saturday. Blackpool have been really good this year and will be strong at home, but we're fully focused on what it takes to do well at the weekend."

“Forest are a completely different proposition now under Coops because he’s done a remarkable job.

“They’re a top team with top players. They’ve hardly lost any games under him since taking over.

“They’ve had a great FA Cup run and they’re a really tough team to play against. They’re in front of us and they’ll be looking to get into the play-offs, while we’ll be looking to win to close the gap on them.

“But he’s done a fantastic job and I look forward to seeing him, but hopefully it will be him who’s not in a great mood after the game rather than the way I was feeling earlier in the season at the City Ground.

“When you look at the teams above us, we’ve always competed with those teams. We’ve lost some games but we’ve won some as well.

“We’re in good form, we’ve won a lot of games at home, we’re playing at home on Saturday, we’ve not conceded in the last three games and we’re there on merit.

“We have an outside chance. We have a lot of teams in front of us but if we can keep chipping away then it becomes even more interesting at the end of the season.

“As the games decrease the games become more important and the points become more important and that continues with a really tough game on Saturday.”

The two-and-a-half week break came at a good time for the Seasiders, who were without eight players for their last game back in mid-March, the goalless draw against Sheffield United.

The time off has given the likes of Chris Maxwell, Richard Keogh, Luke Garbutt and Keshi Anderson (above) the chance to recover from their injuries.

Elsewhere, Jordan Gabriel is also making good progress although today’s game against his former club will come too soon for the right-back.

Matty Virtue saw some action in a behind-closed-doors friendly during the international break, while both Grant Ward and Sonny Carey are both back running.

Forest have welcomed striker Lewis Grabban back to training this week, although he’s unlikely to be risked today to keep him fit for the final run-in.