Neil Critchley provides detailed injury updates ahead of Blackpool's trip to Swansea City

After a 14-day international break, the Seasiders make the long trip to South Wales on Saturday to face Swansea City.

Despite the time off, Neil Critchley will still be without a host of names through injury, but there is better news elsewhere.

Here’s the latest update on Blackpool’s sidelined players following this morning’s press conference with Critchley:

Chris Maxwell and Shayne Lavery

The pair have been sidelined with a torn quad and hamstring injury respectively since the win against Blackburn Rovers at the start of October.

But the duo are nearing a return to first-team action.

Critchley said: “Shayne is back in training and Maxi has just started team training this week as well, so we’ve just got to think about when is the right time to re-introduce them back into the squad.

“But it’s positive in terms of having both of them back in team training, but Shayne is probably a little bit further ahead than Maxi because he had a bit of training just before we had a few days off last week.

“That’s positive news on both of them.”

Richard Keogh

The defender was forced to hobble off with a calf strain during Blackpool’s narrow defeat to Stoke City before the international break.

While the 35-year-old is unlikely to feature at Swansea this weekend, he's not far off making his return.

“He’s not going to be out for the long term, but I don’t think he will be ready for the weekend,” Critchley said.

“But we’re definitely hopeful of him being involved next week.”

Oliver Casey

The defender, who has yet to make a league appearance for the Seasiders, suffered a setback during last week’s Lancashire Senior Cup win.

“Oliver Casey got injured in that game against Everton, so he’s done his ankle ligaments and will be out for a couple of weeks,” Pool’s head coach said.

Luke Garbutt

The left-back is facing a period of time on the sidelines after suffering an injury during the 1-0 defeat to Stoke City at the start of month.

“Garbs will be longer (than Keogh), that’s more of a medial ligament issue so that will be weeks rather than days unlike Keyesy,” Critchley said.

Dujon Sterling

The defender hasn’t made an appearance for the Seasiders since the start of October after picking up a knock after a period of illness.

The Chelsea loanee is back fit now though and recently appeared in Blackpool’s Lancashire Senior Cup game against Everton.

“Dujon is fine, he’s training and has no issues,” Critchley said.

Kevin Stewart

The midfielder has suffered another setback during what has already been an injury-plagued campaign.

“Kev was training before the international break but his ankle is not quite right, we’re not happy with it and he’s not happy with it. He’ll be seeing a specialist,” Critchley confirmed.

“He gets to a certain point in training where he looks good and he was fine and looking good, but there’s something grumbling on all the time.

“We just need to get to the bottom of that, but we’ll hopefully know more in the next 24 to 48 hours.”

CJ Hamilton

The winger made a scoring return from injury during last week’s Lancashire Senior Cup outing against Everton after recovering from his second operation on his foot.

“He came through 90 minutes, which we weren’t expecting him to do,” Critchley revealed.

“That wasn’t the plan but with one or two injuries, he ended up staying on and playing the whole game.

“He’s come through with no issues, so he’s looking confident and much happier about the situation.

“He looks different to when he first had the operation, so the second operation has certainly helped him psychologically.

“Again, that’s another decision to make over when we start to involve him back in the match-day squad.”

Daniel Gretarsson and Kenny Dougall, meanwhile, are both expected to train today after their international exploits for Iceland and Australia respectively.

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