Gabriel, Williams, Husband and Madine: Blackpool's injury state of play ahead of trip to Sheffield United

The right-back is currently sidelined with a lateral meniscus (knee) injury which he sustained before the games against Sunderland and Watford.

After having scans and seeing a specialist, it appears the defender will require surgery to solve the issue.

“It looks likely he’s going to have surgery, so it looks very likely he will be out until the New Year,” Appleton confirmed ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Sheffield United.

“We’ve still got eight games between now and the break for the World Cup, so we’re obviously a little bit short on the ground in terms of defenders.

“We’re going to have to manage players and individuals between games and hope they come through the games unscathed, so they don’t pick up injuries.

“It’s not ideal, but ultimately it’s been a recurring thing for us so far this season and we’ve managed to deal with it relatively well so far, so hopefully that will continue.”

Gary Madine should be fit and available for Saturday’s trip to Bramall Lane despite a slight groin issue, but both James Husband (calf) and Rhys Williams (shin) are still out, despite making good progress.

“James Husband is still not available,” Appleton said.

“He may be in and around it on Wednesday, but it’s probably looking more like next weekend.

“Rhys Williams has come through three or four days of training without any real issues or problems. This weekend might be too quick of a turnaround for him to be in the squad but as long as he has no reactions he could be available for Wednesday.

“Gary Madine is fine, he’s alright. We looked after him at the start of the week but he trained yesterday and I don’t think there’s been a reaction, so I’m expecting him to train today and be available for tomorrow.”

Elsewhere, Kevin Stewart (calf and fractured foot), Lewis Fiorini (hamstring) Keshi Anderson (quad) and Jake Beesley (fractured foot) all remain sidelined.

When asked if any of those will be back before the World Cup break, Appleton said: “Unlikely, very unlikely.

“The one who has a better chance than any is Keshi because his injury wasn’t as bad as we first feared when he did his quad.

“Hubby will be back possibly next weekend, maybe Wednesday, but out of the other ones Keshi is the one we’re hoping to see before the end of November.”