Terry McPhillips would like Sheffield United loanee Ben Heneghan at Blackpool next season

Terry McPhillips has admitted he’d love to bring on-loan Sheffield United defender Ben Heneghan back to the club next season.
Ben Heneghan has been one of Blackpools leading performers during this seasonBen Heneghan has been one of Blackpools leading performers during this season
Ben Heneghan has been one of Blackpools leading performers during this season

The 25-year-old has enjoyed a fine campaign with the Seasiders this term, recovering from a rusty start to become a regular man of the match contender.

With his parent club in contention for promotion to the Premier League, the chances of the Yorkshire outfit sending him out on loan again next season appears likely.

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When asked if bringing Heneghan back to Blackpool next season was a possibility, McPhillips told The Gazette: “Depends how much money the new owners have got!

“You’d like to keep Ben, of course you would, amongst others. But he has been brilliant.

“He’s a top pro and he trains like he plays, it would be great if we can keep him.”

Another Pool player McPhillips appears keen to keep is club captain Jimmy Ryan, despite the midfielder not making a single appearance this season.

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The 30-year-old, whose contract ends at the end of the season, is still recovering from a long-standing knee complaint, although he has recently returned to training.

Ryan hasn’t appeared for Blackpool since the final day of last season, an injury that forced him to undergo surgery on his knee in September of last year.

He was initially predicted to return to action in the New Year but that never transpired, the midfielder suffering a number of frustrating setbacks.

“For Jimmy it has been a rollercoaster,” McPhillips said.

“It’s been up and down with a lot of disappointments, operations and injections and stuff like that.

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“He is back in now, training fully, so fingers crossed for him. But we’ll just have to see how he reacts.

“I love Jimmy to bits and he’s a big player, he’s been a big miss for us.

“I think if he had been fit all season we’d have been further up the league.

“I’ll recommend what I think to the board but hopefully for Jimmy we’ll see him play before the end of the season.”

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Ryan isn’t the only player to be out-of-contract this summer, with Myles Boney, Donervon Daniels, Nathan Delfouneso and Chris Long all sweating over whether or not they will get fresh deals.

Talks are ongoing between McPhillips and the club’s board, but no fresh offers have been made yet.

“I think it will probably be next week now when we have a chat,” the Pool boss added.

“We have spoken about all the players but that was just an initial conversation.

“We’ll go again and try and pin down what the plans are for the future.”