Neil Critchley on how his squad is shaping up ahead of Blackpool's crunch clash with MK Dons

Neil Critchley concedes Blackpool’s squad is likely to remain unchanged for this weekend’s crunch clash against MK Dons.
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The Seasiders will have to do without James Husband, who serves the first of his two-match suspension following his red card just 58 seconds into Tuesday night’s 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic.

Luke Garbutt, Matty Virtue and Keshi Anderson are all currently sidelined with injuries.

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Aside from that, Critchley will have the same set of players to choose from against Russell Martin’s men, who are also languishing inside League One’s bottom four just one spot above Blackpool.

“I don’t think there will be too many changes from who was available on Tuesday night, other than Hubby who will be suspended. Other than that, I think it will be a similar squad,” Critchley said.

“We’re hoping Matty (Virtue) will see a specialist on Monday, so we’re hoping for some good news there but he’s obviously getting closer.

“With Luke Garbutt, he’s not going to be back within a week but it’s not as bad as we thought it might be.

James Husband will be suspended for Saturday's game against MK DonsJames Husband will be suspended for Saturday's game against MK Dons
James Husband will be suspended for Saturday's game against MK Dons
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“He won’t be around for the next week or so. I wouldn’t want to put a timeframe on it because players always recover at different rates and bodies react in different ways.

“We’re disappointed to lose him and the other players but it gives opportunities to other players as well.”

One player who could be welcomed into the fold for the first time since signing is Icelandic defender Daniel Gretarsson.

The 25-year-old has yet to feature in a match-day squad since arriving from Norwegian side Aalesund.

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“He comes into the thinking. He’s had a week or so training now,” Critchley said.

“He had three or four weeks without a game, he needed time to adapt to playing in this country with the intensity of the training, because it’s different.

“But we’ve identified someone that we think has the attributes to cope with playing in League One and what I’ve seen so far in training, I’m sure over time he’ll prove to be a really good acquisition for this football club.”

Elsewhere, out-of-favour defenders Teddy Howe and Jordan Thorniley have yet to feature for Blackpool in the league so far this season.

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When asked what they have to do to get into his plans, Critchley told The Gazette: “Jordan played at Accrington (in the EFL Trophy) the other week and played well, so he’s in and around the squad as is Teddy.

“They’ve got competition in front of them, but there’s competition within the squad. That’s what we want, it’s a healthy competition.

“It’s up to them through their training to prove they warrant and merit being picked in front of someone else. That’s football.”