Neil Critchley reveals 'indifferent' injury news ahead of Blackpool's game against Nottingham Forest

It was confirmed earlier this week that number one Chris Maxwell and leading goalscorer Shayne Lavery will be missing for a number of weeks after suffering injuries during the recent win against Blackburn Rovers.

While no exact timescale has been put on their return, Pool’s head coach says it will “certainly” be more than one or two weeks.

There is better news elsewhere though, with Richard Keogh possibly in contention for Saturday’s game against Nottingham Forest having recovered from a groin injury he also suffered in the game against Blackburn.

Daniel Gretarsson won’t feature at the City Ground having picked up concussion during Iceland’s midweek win against Liechtenstein.

Kenny Dougall has yet to return from international duty with Australia, while Tyreece John-Jules is back having been called up by England Under-21s.

Owen Dale, who has yet to make his Blackpool debut after signing on deadline day, continues to make good progress.

Reece James (foot), Matty Virtue (ACL), Grant Ward (achilles) and CJ Hamilton (foot) all remain sidelined.

Here’s the latest update from this morning’s press conference with Critchley:

Chris Maxwell (torn quad) and Shayne Lavery (hamstring)

“It’s a blow to lose Maxi and Shayne in the same game and they’ll be out for a number of weeks.

“We always have an idea of how long they will be out for, but as we saw in pre-season with Kenny Dougall, we thought he was going to be out for quite a substantial period of time with his knee injury but within days and a week or two he felt fine and he was back out on the grass running.

“He came back within three weeks, when we thought it was going to be at least double that.

“They’re certainly not going to be back within a week or two, but I wouldn’t want to specify a length of time because they could be back before, but they might be longer. Who knows?

“We’ll just take it day-by-day, but what you know with them is they’ll be doing everything they can to get back as soon as possible.”

Richard Keogh (groin)

“We’re hopeful Richard Keogh will be available for Saturday. If not Saturday, then certainly next Wednesday (Reading away).

“He’s been on the grass and running and doing a bit of ball work, so we’re still hopeful and we haven’t ruled him out. It all depends on what happens in the next 48 hours.

“If he does play, I’m sure he’ll get a good reception! I’m sure he’ll be looking forward to that, but we’ll see.

“The break also gives a chance for a few of the other players who had been injured to get closer to fitness, so the news has been a little bit indifferent.”

Owen Dale (foot)

“We played Burnley last week behind closed doors and Owen played 45 minutes in that game. He’s back in full-time training now.

“We have to think about how many weeks he’s missed, because he’s missed a lot of football and a lot of training.

“He’s obviously now eager to stamp his mark at a new club and he’s been frustrated with the period he’s had off the pitch.

“He’s eager to get involved, but now it’s about giving him some training time, a bit of fitness and letting him build up his rhythm and orientation on the pitch, which you can definitely lose.”

Players on international duty

“We’ve had a few players away these last couple of weeks.

“It was fantastic to see Daniel Gretarsson get called up for Iceland. He played in the second-half in the first game and started the next one, but unfortunately he had to come off about half an hour. But we’re hoping that’s just mild concussion.

“He won’t be available for the weekend but that was a great moment for him to get a start, because he had obviously done well in his 45 minutes to be trusted to start the next game, which will be a big boost for him.

“We’ve been in touch with Iceland’s team doctor, he seems to think it was just a mild concussion, so he wasn’t too concerned.

“Daniel felt a bit of dizziness on the pitch. The incident actually happened very early in the game. I watched the game and it was in the third minute maybe, but he didn’t come off until the half-hour mark, so it was a little bit of a delayed concussion.

“He travelled back yesterday and he’s in today for us to assess, but I believe he’s okay.

“We have to follow a concussion protocol now. I’ll speak to our physios this morning prior to us training, but that’s normally around seven days I think, so he won’t be available for Saturday.

“Kenny has spent the last day or so in the air. He’s not quite back yet, so we have to take that into consideration.

“Tyreece has been away with England as well with the Under-21s. He’s not had a lot of game time but he’s still been training and travelling, so we have to take those situations into consideration when we make our decision.

“The travelling does play a part in that.”

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