Ekpiteta, Bridcutt & Anderson: Blackpool's injury state of play ahead of Bristol City test

Mick McCarthy has revealed the 33-year-old is due to undergo surgery on a knee problem.

With only 11 games left of the season, it means the midfielder is unlikely to feature for the Seasiders before the season is up.

Bridcutt has only made four appearances this term, with his last action coming against rivals Preston back in October.

“He was making progress but he hurt his knee, so he’s now having a knee operation,” McCarthy said.

“That’s more than likely to be him done for the season. It’s unlikely he will be involved again although I don’t like writing players off.”

Elsewhere, there’s better news regarding Marvin Ekpiteta who has stepped up his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Charlie Goode, Kevin Stewart, Tom Trybull, Shayne Lavery and Jake Beesley all remain sidelined, however.

“Marvin is due back in March, he’s getting on now,” McCarthy said.

“He’s been back out on the grass, although he’s not trained with the first-team yet.

“All the others, the likes of Shayne Lavery, he’s nowhere near, Charlie Goode and Tom Trybull, they’re out for a while. Kevin Stewart is back out on the grass.

“But none of them have had a game yet as such, so we’ve got what we’ve got.”

The Seasiders were also given a boost in midweek with Keshi Anderson making his return from injury with a 60-minute cameo for the development squad.

McCarthy admits he’s now got a decision to make over whether to include him in his squad for this weekend’s trip to Bristol City.

“He came through it okay and he’s trained with us today,” he said.

“He did alright, he did well. He had a few robust challenges so we’ll just see how he goes from now on. Hopefully he’s okay.”

When asked about the likelihood of Anderson being involved this weekend, McCarthy added: “I don’t think 60 minutes in that game suddenly passes him as fully fit to be starting. Not yet. Let’s see how he is.

“I’ve not made my mind up yet. I’ve just been chatting to him and he seems okay with it all.

“Whenever he’s trained he’s looked very competent. He’s a good player.”