Simon Grayson on what former Rangers striker Ryan Hardie needs to do to force his way into his Blackpool side

The striker has made just 12 appearances in all competitions for the Seasiders this term and hasn't featured in the league since October 12.

Meanwhile the 22-year-old has started just two league games all season and has even struggled to make Grayson's match-day squads in recent weeks.

His only goal of the campaign came in Blackpool's 5-1 win against Morecambe in the EFL Trophy in September.

When asked what Hardie needs to do to get back into his plans, Grayson told The Gazette: “He’s like a lot of players who aren’t in the squad, Sean Scannell is another one.

“Whoever is not in the 11, whoever is not in the 18, they’ve got to make sure they’re working hard every day in training to make me have to put them back into the squad.

“That’s what I do. I look at people, I look at situations and see who has caught the eye in training, this, that and the other.

“At Rotherham, Notts (Michael Nottingham) was on the bench for the first time in a while purely because of the size and power of them so we could bring him on for Turts (Ollie Turton) or sacrifice an attacking option.

“I thought we had enough options up top but we just needed to cover all bases.”