Main questions following Blackpool's pre-season outing against Sunderland as ex-Portsmouth and Southampton men impress

Jack Clarke found himself with space in the box heading into the closing stages, as the Black Cats returned to the North East with a win under their belt.

A number of players were given a run out for the Seasiders, with Neil Critchley making eight changes at the break, and a further three during the second half.

Here’s some of the main questions after the latest pre-season outing:

How important can Evans be?

New signing Lee Evans was among eight half time substitutes for the Seasiders against Sunderland.

Despite the vast number of changes, Blackpool seemed to quickly click into gear following the restart, and looked better on the ball.

A big part of that was Evans’ influence, with the midfielder giving a taste of his passing range with a couple of great balls forward.

He was also able to test the Black Cats keeper from a free kick.

The 30-year-old won’t yet be fully fit after a late start to pre-season, but if he only gets better from this point going forward then the Seasiders will have a really good player on their hands - with his past promotion record telling its own story.

What can Finnigan offer this season?

Ryan Finnigan was also introduced into the midfield at half time, and looked lively.

Since making the move to Bloomfield Road from Southampton back in January, the 20-year-old is yet to make his Seasiders debut after suffering an ankle injury while on loan with Shrewsbury last year.

While he’s still young and it’s early days, the signs against Sunderland looked positive, and perhaps he could have an influence this season.

His stand out moment was a through ball for Kyle Joseph, with the striker forcing a save from the keeper.

When will players receive further game time?

Critchley is still easing his squad into action, but that could be about to change.

The Blackpool boss stated after the match that a few players will be ready to feature for 90 minutes against Tranmere at Prenton Park on Tuesday night - which suggests he’ll be limiting the number of substitutes.

How should we reflect on the Sunderland game?

Despite ending in defeat, there’s enough to feel positive about from the game for now.

In the first half, they were pretty poor on the ball, and allowed Sunderland to dominate, but they were able to frustrate the Championship side and stop them from scoring.

Following the break things were much more positive in possession, and there were chances to score - which they should’ve taken.

By the time the Black Cats goal came, the Blackpool defence was pretty youthful, so not too much can be read into that.