Blackpool's Kevin Stewart concedes penalty but gets vital minutes under his belt for Jamaica

The midfielder played just over half an hour off having come off the bench during the Reggae Boyz’s 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica last night.

Stewart conceded a penalty which was saved by goalkeeper Andre Blake.

It comes after the 28-year-old earned his first international cap in the 3-2 loss to Panama on Sunday.

Stewart’s appearances are his first for club or country since mid-October, having only just returned from a serious ankle injury.

The former Liverpool man has endured an injury-plagued campaign and has only made three appearances for Neil Critchley’s side.

Stewart was included on the bench for Blackpool’s recent win against Millwall, but was unavailable against Fulham at the weekend because of his call-up.

It’s unclear if Stewart will be available for Saturday’s clash against Bristol City, but we should find out more when Neil Critchley holds his pre-match press conference on Friday.

Speaking to The Gazette last week, Critchley said he wasn’t entirely happy with the timing of Stewart’s departure.

“Kevin’s gone away. He got on a flight yesterday,” Critchley said last Thursday.

“They’ve got some qualification games this weekend and just after, so he won’t be available this weekend.

“If you told me at the start of the season Kev was only going to play three games and not even three full games, I’d have been concerned about that.

“We’ve missed his experience and his quality for us in the middle of the pitch. He was a big player for us last season and I was hoping he was going to be a big player for us this season.

“We’ve just got him back recently as well and truthfully he was on the bench last week a little bit out of necessity. He hadn’t trained for that long.

“Ideally we’d like to get some more training into him and a game or two, maybe get a reserve game into him. But we’ve not been able to do that.

“But when it’s the international window and they’re recognised qualification games, there’s nothing we can do. If he’s called up and he’s fit, then he has to go and that’s what has happened.

“Jamaica are aware of his circumstances and hopefully they look after him, but he might get some valuable game time while he’s there as well.”

Blackpool were already light on options in central midfield prior to Stewart’s call-up due to Ryan Wintle’s return to Cardiff City and long-term injuries to Matty Virtue and Grant Ward.

Callum Connolly, who is predominantly a defender, has been filling in there in recent weeks alongside Kenny Dougall, who fortunately for Pool was not called up to the Australian squad for their World Cup qualifiers.

Ethan Robson is available, however, having been recalled early from his loan spell at MK Dons last month.

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