Michael Appleton provides Gary Madine injury update after Swansea City defeat

“I’m aware of Russ from his days at MK and mine at Lincoln, so I know how his teams play and how they set up.

“It’s very difficult at times to get the ball off them if you go about it the wrong way when you start pressing as individuals and start chasing the little overloads in areas of the pitch.

“You’ve got to be smart, cute and pick your moments to press and not get frustrated when you don’t see the ball for large periods of time because you’ve got to think about what happens when the ball gets turned over.

“It’s almost like a game of chess in a way, it’s like a strategy thing. We’re aware of their strengths but we’re also aware there are one or two areas we can hopefully exploit.”

Michael Appleton was finally able to provide a positive injury update during yesterday’s pre-match press conference.

Gary Madine comes back into contention after training on Thursday, having missed the midweek cup tie against Barrow with a knock to the shin.

Elsewhere, Jordan Gabriel and James Husband provided Appleton with a major boost by playing 30 minutes each off the bench during the Carabao Cup defeat.

Pool’s head coach also revealed Doug Tharme is back in training after picking up a knock in pre-season.

Elsewhere, Luke Garbutt, Kevin Stewart, Keshi Anderson and Jake Beesley remain sidelined.

After making a promising start to the new campaign, the Seasiders have suffered a little over the last week or so.

Michael Appleton’s men, who opened their account for the season with a hard-earned 1-0 win against Reading, then slumped to a 2-0 defeat away at Stoke City that weekend.

A much-changed side then followed that up with a disappointing cup exit at the hands of League Two side Barrow on Tuesday night.

The Seasiders were held to a goalless draw during the normal 90 before losing 4-3 on penalties.

Today’s opponents Swansea have also endured a slow start to the campaign, taking just one point from their opening two fixtures, while also exiting the Carabao Cup on penalties.

Russell Martin’s side began the season with a 1-1 draw away at Rotherham United before losing 3-0 at home to Blackburn Rovers last weekend, depite enjoying 71 per cent possession.

The Seasiders were 1-0 victors over the Swans back in March thanks to Gary Madine’s early header, while the two sides played out a 1-1 draw earlier in the season at the Liberty Stadium.

And welcome to today’s live blog.

Blackpool return to Bloomfield Road this afternoon as they look to get back to winning ways against Swansea City.

Follow the blog for build-up, team news, live match updates and post-match reaction.