Matty Virtue to miss Blackpool's game against Peterborough United after suffering knock during weekend win against Oxford

The midfielder has swelling to his knee after competing in a 50-50 challenge during Saturday's 2-0 win against Oxford United.

The setback comes at the worst time possible for the Seasiders, who were missing seven key first-team players at the Kassam Stadium at the weekend.

Speaking this morning to preview tomorrow night's return to Bloomfield Road, Critchley said: “He’s got some swelling on his knee, so we’ll just have to see how that responds to treatment in the next 24 to 48 hours.

“He’ll miss tomorrow night, he won’t be available, but then we’ll see how responds over the next day or two before we investigate - if we have to - any further."

Blackpool are already missing Marvin Ekpiteta, James Husband, Kevin Stewart, Keshi Anderson, CJ Hamilton and Gary Madine through injury.

Daniel Gretarsson, who hasn't featured since the start of January, is now back available for selection and could have been involved at Oxford, only for his partner to give birth to a baby girl on Friday.

“Some (of the injured players) are getting closer, but not for Tuesday night. There possibly might be an outside chance of Saturday," Critchley said.

“It’s not a great situation obviously, but we’ve coped for a number of weeks now without players and I can’t fault the players who have taken to the pitch.

“One of the best feelings as a coach is when you look out onto the pitch and being able to trust the players and knowing what you’re going to get from them.

“I have that feeling when I look out onto the pitch at the moment, I have that trust and belief in the squad of players who are playing at the moment.”

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