Joe Bunney and John O'Sullivan are great lads but had to move on, says Blackpool boss Terry McPhillips

O’Sullivan was a late departure, his loan move to Scottish Premier League side Dundee being confirmed shortly after midnight on Friday morning.

The Irishman has made 22 appearances for the Seasiders this season but midfielder O’Sullivan has found himself on the fringes of the squad in recent weeks.

The same can be said of Bunney, who has been behind Marc Bola in the pecking order and Nick Anderton, who has recently returned from his loan spell at Accrington Stanley.

Pool boss McPhillips had nothing but praise for the duo but admitted they needed to go elsewhere to get more action.

“They are both great lads,” he said.

“For Joe Bunney, it just hasn’t worked out for him here.

“You’d have to say that the form of Marc Bola has limited his opportunities. He’s been a really good professional and trained well.

“You couldn’t have envisaged how well Marc Bola was going to do but that’s football.

“Bola has done really well but Joe did nothing wrong at all, so sometimes that’s just the way it is.

“We wish him all the best because he just wants to play. Hopefully he can play more games now at Rochdale. You hope it’s a deal that suits all parties.

“John, I love him to bits. His enthusiasm is outstanding. He’s a great kid and everyone likes him.

“What he needs to do now is just go and play games.

“He was injured last year for quite a lot of the season and he hasn’t had a run of games with us because of the way it is.

“We wish both of them the best of luck and will be watching to see how they progress.”

O’Sullivan came off the bench for Dundee in their 1-1 draw against Hamilton last weekend, when he came up against another player to recently depart the Seasiders – striker Steve Davies, who was making his third appearance for the Accies.