Why Blackpool's Reece James jumped at the chance to join Sheffield Wednesday

The full-back became the second Blackpool player to depart the club on loan last week, following in the footsteps of Oliver Casey who joined Forest Green Rovers.

James made just 19 appearances last season and, once everyone is fit, would be considered by many to be Blackpool’s third-choice left-back.

With that in mind, James didn’t take much persuading to link up with Darren Moore, a manager he previously played under at Doncaster Rovers.

“It’s something that came up quite quickly and it was something I wanted to jump at. I’m excited for the challenge,” James said.

“People know about the vision this club has got, it should be in a lot higher division and with what the gaffer wanted to achieve, it was something I wanted to be a part of.

“The gaffer is obviously someone I’ve worked with previously and I probably had my best two seasons in football with him, so hopefully I can do that again.

“He gave me that belief, but it’s also the way he likes to play which suits me as a footballer as well.

“Playing under him last time, I had one of my best seasons in terms of my scoring ratio as well, so hopefully I can achieve that again.”

Wednesday will be hoping to go one better this season after being knocked out of the play-offs at the semi-final stage last term by eventual winners Sunderland.

“It was a very good squad last season, but new players have already been added now - so hopefully we can get things going and get over the line this season,” James added.

“People know now this is a difficult league. I’ve played in it before and I’ve been promoted from it before, so hopefully I can achieve it again.

“You need that experience at this level when you’re going to different grounds and coming up against different things.

“We’re one of the biggest clubs in the league so we’re always going to have that target on our back, so we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for those challenges.

“The fans are unbelievable here, you see what they get each week…we’ve just got to make sure we do things right for them.”