Why Michael Appleton believes the Preston North End derby is the ideal next game for Blackpool

That’s according to Blackpool’s head coach, who insists he shouldn’t need to remind his players how big a game this weekend’s clash is against Preston North End.

After delivering a lacklustre and lifeless display during the 3-1 defeat against Hull City on Wednesday night, Appleton believes he couldn’t have hand-picked a better game for his side to bounce back to.

“All I can say is that it will be different on Saturday because we’ll have three or four players come back into the fold who will be desperate to play,” he said after the Hull game.

“In terms of games, you can’t pick a better game to play.

“That’s what I said to the players in the dressing room, I can’t pick a better game for us to come back to on Saturday.

“It’s a short turnaround, so there’s not an opportunity for us to feel sorry for ourselves.

“What happened on Saturday (against Sheffield United) happened, it’s gone now. We’ve had this game to get it out of our system and now we’ve got an opportunity to play our biggest rivals and turn them over on our patch.”

On having to raise the spirits of his squad, Appleton added: “I shouldn’t need to do anything, I shouldn’t need to do anything between now and Saturday.

“Clearly we will do, we will get them organised and prepared and they will know exactly what’s coming.

“But a game as big as Saturday is and the rivalry between the two football clubs, there’s not a lot I should need to do in terms of motivation.

“I’m sure they will know that from being in the area, going to the local shop, the garage or whatever it might be, I’m sure our supporters will make them aware how big a game this is.”

The Seasiders will have Dom Thompson and Marvin Ekpiteta back available to them after the pair served their one-game suspensions in midweek.

It comes after the duo were both shown two yellow cards during the incident-packed 3-3 draw against Sheffield United last weekend.

Shayne Lavery, meanwhile, still remains out though, with two games remaining on his suspension having been shown a red card after the final whistle at Bramall Lane.

The Seasiders appealed the striker’s dismissal but their challenge was rejected by the FA’s independent panel.

After serving the first game of his ban against Hull, Lavery will now also miss this weekend’s derby as well as next week’s trip to Coventry City.

Jordan Gabriel (knee), Kevin Stewart (calf and fractured foot), Lewis Fiorini (hamstring) Keshi Anderson (quad) and Jake Beesley (fractured foot) all missed the Hull game through injury.

As for Preston, they’re expected to be without Liam Lindsay and Troy Parrott through injury, while DJ Johnson could also miss out.

Ryan Lowe’s side sit ninth in the table on 22 points following their midweek return to winning ways against struggling Huddersfield Town.