Salford City v Blackpool: Michael Appleton addresses Colby Bishop speculation after friendly win

Michael Appleton switches up his side, opting to hand minutes to those who didn’t feature as heavily against Rangers on Saturday.

In the absence of a fit and available senior right-back, midfielder Matty Virtue is forced to fill in on the right-hand side of defence.

New signing Lewis Fiorini is handed his first start, while trialist Grant Ward is given another chance to earn a new deal.

Rhys Williams, who arrived on a season-long loan from Liverpool earlier in the day, isn’t involved.

Luke Garbutt returns from a short spell out with a knee issue to reclaim his left-back spot, but Jordan Gabriel, James Husband, Kevin Stewart and Jake Beesley all remain sidelined.

Maxwell, Virtue, Tharme, Thorniley, Garbutt, Ward, Fiorini, Dale, Lubala, Lavery, Yates

It appears Blackpool only announce signings before games nowadays!

Liverpool defender Rhys Williams has become the club’s second signing of the summer, joining on a season-long loan deal.

It’s understood the 21-year-old is unlikely to feature tonight.

For more information, read our story here.

After capturing their first signing of the summer on Saturday in Lewis Fiorini, the Seasiders are now looking to step things up this week with further arrivals.

It appears they’re close to doing exactly that too, with Liverpool’s Rhys Williams and Accrington Stanley striker Colby Bishop among those strongly linked.

Elsewhere, the club remain in talks with Shamrock Rovers over their full-back Andy Lyons, although he’s likely to be in Champions League qualifying action tonight.

Rumours linking Pool with Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru haven’t gone away either after it was reported a bid of around £500,000 had been knocked back.

For the latest state of play, click here.

“They will come with a lot of confidence thinking and probably expecting to get out of their league and be a strong side. I’m sure they’ve recruited well,” Appleton said.

“From our point of view, there are certain things in the middle third of the pitch and the top end of the pitch that I want to see on Tuesday, where we might not have been able to see as much against Leeds and Rangers because of how strong they were.”

Luke Garbutt could feature tonight despite missing the weekend friendly against Rangers with a knee complaint.

Speaking after Saturday’s game, head coach Michael Appleton told The Gazette the left-back’s injury, which he picked up in Edinburgh last week, isn’t as bad as first feared.

Elsewhere, James Husband, Jordan Gabriel (both hamstring), Kevin Stewart and Jake Beesley (both stress fractures of the foot) remain sidelined.

The Seasiders are likely to use tonight’s friendly as a chance to give some more minutes to those players that didn’t start against Rangers at the weekend.

Chris Maxwell is expected to start in goal, while the likes of Doug Tharme, Jordan Thorniley, Callum Connolly, Owen Dale, Beryly Lubala, Shayne Lavery and Jerry Yates are likely to feature heavily.

New signing Lewis Fiorini could also make his first start.

Tonight’s game was originally due to kick-off at 7.30pm, but that’s now been pushed back by half an hour due to the soaring temperatures.

Temperatures were expected to rise to as high as 37℃ in the Salford area during the day, although this should drop to around 29℃ at 7pm and 27℃ at 8pm.

However, according to the Met Office, cloud will build from the west late in the day bringing the chance of a few showers.

It comes as the Met Office has issued its first ever red warning for exceptional heat, with temperatures of over 40℃ forecasted elsewhere in the UK.

“With temperatures expected to hit close to 40 degrees throughout the day, this decision has been taken by both clubs to ensure the safety of all players, staff and supporters,” the Seasiders said in a statement.

“Turnstiles will be open from 7pm, with complimentary bottled water kindly provided to supporters by Salford City.”