'I didn't want him to leave': Blackpool boss on Newcastle's decision to recall Elias Sorensen

The 19-year-old has now returned to Newcastle's Under-23 side having made just one sub appearance during his time at Bloomfield Road.

Sorensen had even failed to make Blackpool's bench for the last six games running, but McPhillips says he wanted him to remain at the club.

“I didn’t want him to leave," the Pool boss said.

“He hadn’t made the squads, but the day he leaves is the day after we get a few injuries.

“He’s been unlucky. When we signed him we had one of the strikers injured (Joe Dodoo) and we thought he would be out a bit longer than he was.

“But they’ve recalled him and that’s that, I’ve had no real conversation.

“I did speak to the lad to wish him all the best. He’s a great kid, he is a good goalscorer and we wish him well for the future."

While McPhillips admits Sorensen had done nothing wrong during his time at the club, he did say those strikers in front of him were performing better in training.

He added: “He can score a goal in training but in the end I had a lot of players to leave off the bench and he was getting left off regularly.

“He hasn’t had the opportunity he thought he was going to get and that’s down to me really.

“But with the honest group of lads we’ve got, we say training counts and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.

“There’s all different types of strikers, aren’t there?

“You can have your big hold-up one, you can have your fox in the box and ones that just score you goals, and I think Elias is a proven goalscorer in the Under-23s.

“It’s his first loan but down at Squires Gate we picked the other lads ahead of him because it’s simple, they’ve done better than him - in my opinion.

“I’m not saying he did badly in training, he just didn’t do enough."