Michael Appleton to meet Blackpool players for the first time as pre-season gets underway

The Seasiders are due back at Bloomfield Road for the first time since last season ended just over six weeks ago.

There will be a different man in charge though, with Appleton taking the reins from Neil Critchley following the latter’s surprise decision to leave the club to become Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Aston Villa.

Pool’s players will undergo two days of testing and fitness work before taking to the training pitch at Squires Gate on Thursday.

Having only been appointed on Friday, it’s a quick turnaround for Appleton - but the 46-year-old insists he’d much rather get stuck in to work straight away.

“I’m not great at home, the missus and the little one will testify to that. I’m not great,” he joked to The Gazette.

“I like working, I like being out. I’ve got the opportunity to do that and I’m really looking forward to meeting all the players on Monday and getting straight at it.”

Like a number of former Blackpool bosses, Appleton has bad memories of working at Squires Gate.

The facility looks a great deal different now, however, with a further £300,000 worth of improvements taking place this summer.

“I can assure you Squires Gate now to what it was 10 years ago is miles apart,” Appleton added.

“The best way I can describe it 10 years ago is like a beaten up cricket pavilion, that’s the best way I can put it.

“There were probably six or seven buckets surrounding the inside of the building, if that’s what you want to call it.

“It wasn’t really conducive to probably league football, never mind Premier League football the previous year.

“What I would say is that the group of players I had last time, the way they got on with their day-to-day business, they came in and did their job when they could have quite easily moaned and groaned and made more of an issue out of it.

“It was always going to hold the club back unless it did get improved, so I’m delighted to see the improvements that have been made over the years.

“To think beyond that to where it’s going to go to is exciting.”