How Stephen Dobbie is already making progress integrating Blackpool's first-team & academy

The 40-year-old was in charge of the club’s Under-23 side prior to taking on his current role as Blackpool’s interim boss until the end of the season.

One change he’s already implemented is arranging for the development squad to train at Squires Gate at the same time as the first-team.

Brad Holmes, meanwhile, was named among the substitutes for Saturday’s win against Wigan while Alex Lankshear, who travelled with the squad to Luton on Easter Monday, also took part in the warm-up.

“It’s just about integrating the younger ones,” Dobbie said.

“We feel as if they’re doing really well and since I’ve come in the development team has been up at Squires Gate every day for training because it’s important for their development to be in and around the environment and see what first-team players do day-to-day.

“The likes of Alex have done excellent for the development team this year, so to have them around and travelling with the team, spending the night and seeing what it’s like in this environment, I think it’s very important for his progress.”

The club’s hierarchy are keen to develop the academy in a bid to bring through talent from the youth setup and into the first-team – but as yet we’ve not seen any players make the step-up.

When asked what more can be done, Dobbie said: “The young boys at some point need a chance. If they never appear in training, you never know if they can handle the standard.

“If it was over a whole season you get to see how they progress at this standard rather than just being with the development team.

“For now, they’re there and they’re training with us every day. Obviously the situation we’re in might dictate them getting any minutes on the pitch.”

With Jerry Yates the only senior striker available at this moment in time, Dobbie opted to reward Holmes for his recent good form with the development squad by naming him on the bench at the weekend.

The Blackpool-born forward has performed well for the Under-23s this season and deserved his chance according to Blackpool’s interim boss.

“I’ve coached Brad for a full year so I’ve seen his development. He’s signed a new contract and he’s scored a lot of goals for the development team,” he added.

“The thinking behind that was that we obviously needed the win, so when it gets to the later stages of the game where we might need a goal we felt it would be more beneficial to have more attacking players on the bench.

“Brad has done well this season and he deserved that chance.”

Rob Apter, another graduate of Blackpool’s youth team, is close to making his return from injury having returned to training this week.

The 19-year-old had been training with the first-team before suffering the setback after returning from his loan spell in the National League with Scunthorpe United.