Recent absence of ex-Rotherham United figure explained ahead of Blackpool's trip to South Yorkshire
Blackpool travel to the New York Stadium to take on Rotherham United on Wednesday evening.
Michael Ihiekwe could return to contention for Blackpool on Wednesday evening as Ian Evatt’s side travel to the New York Stadium to take on Rotherham United.
The experienced defender has endured a difficult start to life at Bloomfield Road on the whole since his summer move as a free agent from Sheffield Wednesday.
While the 33-year-old has been able to feature 18 times in all competitions so far this season, he has been unable to truly take a commanding role in the back line.
His most difficult afternoon of the campaign came in Blackpool’s last League One outing - which was a 3-0 defeat to Reading at the end of November.
Since then Ihiekwe has missed the Seasiders’ 4-2 defeat to Harrogate Town in the EFL Trophy and Sunday evening’s 4-1 victory over Carlisle United in the FA Cup.
His absence for both occasions was down to a long-term problem he has been nursing for a long time, but he should be fit enough to feature against his former club Rotherham - whom he won three promotions to the Championship with between 2017 and 2022.
“There’s a slight issue with him - it’s not anything that has happened recently; it’s something that he’s managing for a long time,” head coach Ian Evatt explained on Sunday evening.
“We felt like we could let it settle down a little bit and freshen him back up so then he’s ready for the big games coming up.”
Evatt looks ahead to Rotherham test
Evatt states whichever team he selects for the trip to the New York Stadium need to be ready to make the most of the moments that come their way.
Since beating Cardiff City 3-1 at Bloomfield Road last month, Blackpool have only managed one point in their last three League One games.
“We’ve got to take each game as it comes and focus on the next opponent in front of us,” the Seasiders boss stated in his pre-match press conference on Monday.
“We will go through our process of how we analyse games and how we prepare - what are their strengths and their weaknesses. What’s our strategy with the ball, and what’s our strategy without the ball, and where we think we can hurt them. We’ll do that for every game.
“This league is a moments league, and you have moments in every game you play. We beat Cardiff, but they had moments in that game which meant we could’ve lost. Against Reading we could’ve been 2-0 up before they even scored a goal. This is a league that depends on you taking those defining moments.
“We have to make sure when those moments come that we’re the first to take them to go ahead in the game.
“In football, the first goal in any game is huge, momentum is everything. If we can get that then it gives a good chance of going on and getting a result.”
Your next story from the Gazette: Explanation issued following early withdrawal of Blackpool loanee in Carlisle win.