'It puts a real strain on us': Blackpool could be without NINE players for crucial Hull City clash

The Seasiders were already without six players through injury for Saturday’s incident-packed 3-3 draw against Sheffield United.

But that number is likely to rise to NINE for the Hull game following the red cards shown to Marvin Ekpiteta, Dom Thompson and Shayne Lavery during the controversial six-goal thriller at Bramall Lane.

Ekpiteta and Thompson will both serve one-game bans, meaning they will return for the derby against Preston on Saturday, but Lavery is expected to miss three games.

However, there is a caveat as Blackpool have appealed the red card shown to Lavery after the final whistle.

James Husband, meanwhile, could return from a calf injury on Wednesday night, although Saturday is looking more likely.

Either way, the Seasiders will be stretched to the limit for their midweek game against the managerless Tigers, who sit just one point above the relegation zone after losing seven of their last eight games.

Appleton joked: “I hope we’ve got enough players!

“It puts a strain on us, a real strain. The pride you get from the performance on Saturday and the way we went about our business will change very quickly from my point of view to try and switch on and get ready for Wednesday.

“I need to find a way of putting a side together that can go and win the game.”

The Seasiders, who are expected to have just 16 first-team players available in midweek, delivered a superb display against the Blades on Saturday, one that deserved three points.

“When the game was 11v11 I felt really comfortable,” Appleton added.

“We were playing really well, we were pressing really high and we were controlling the game out of possession as well as in possession.

“I was really happy and I made that point to the players. Their performance levels are good at the minute and they should feel good about themselves.

“This feels really crappy at the minute, as you can imagine, but once we settle down emotion-wise and look at the performance rather than what happened at the end, hopefully they can take that into Wednesday night.”