Neil Critchley: Long wait for league action is almost over and we're ready to go

The Seasiders make the long trip down to Plymouth for their opening League One game tomorrow.

The curtain-raiser comes more than six months on from Blackpool’s last league fixture, their 2-1 defeat to Tranmere Rovers at Bloomfield Road.

Head coach Critchley said: “To be without a league game since March, it feels like a very, very long time ago, so we’re itching to get going. We’re excited and we feel as though we’re ready to go.

“It’s a long trip and a tough game to look forward to, but we’ve had a good pre-season.

“We know we’ve got a long season in front of us but we’re looking good and we’re ready.

“The first few weeks of pre-season were almost a re-introduction to playing the game, having gone months without playing together.

“Then in the last few weeks, I’ve definitely felt as though the players have been a lot more focused. Our mentality in training is improving and, it’s hard to describe, but sometimes you get a feeling as a coach the players are ready to go.”

The Seasiders were one of the first League One sides to return to pre-season training, giving Critchley and his staff plenty of time to prepare.

He added: “We were very mindful of picking up injuries early on, with the players having a long period of being de-loaded, albeit they did work individually.

“But running and doing gym work is completely different to playing football on a daily basis.

“I think it helped us at first training in small groups of five when we returned for the first week, so we could steadily build momentum and fitness and we’ve been fortunate so far with our injuries.

“We’ve had some players that have missed some days in training but we’ve had no significant injuries.

“We’ve pretty much got a healthy squad and a fit squad, and that’s really important to give us that base for the season ahead. That’s vitally important throughout any season, but in particular this one because it’s going to be condensed.”

James Husband remains a doubt for Home Park, although the 26-year-old hasn’t been ruled out.

The defender was due to start Tuesday’s EFL Trophy game against Barrow but suffered a hamstring injury during the warm-up.

Nathan Shaw, who replaced him at late notice, could fill in if Husband is missing as could Demetri Mitchell, who has trained this week.

Midfielder Ethan Robson can also fill in at left-back if needed.

Matty Virtue and Oliver Sarkic both come back into contention after missing Pool’s last two games with knocks.