Bowyer's '˜frantic' quest for Blackpool signings

Gary Bowyer revealed he has been working 'frantically hard' to add to his injury-hit Blackpool squad.
Gary BowyerGary Bowyer
Gary Bowyer

The manager has spent the past two days looking desperately for reinforcements as his severely depleted side prepares to face Yeovil tomorrow.

The Seasiders are missing six first-team players, with Colin Daniel, Eddie Nolan, Jack Payne, Brad Potts, Andy Taylor and Kyle Vassell all likely to miss the Bloomfield Road clash.

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Bowyer says he is working round the clock to get a deal done but is prepared to go with what he’s already got if necessary.

The Pool boss said: “Wednesday was a frantic day trying to bring players in and we were still at it at 11.45pm. But as yet we’ve had no joy.

“We’ve got seven games in February and on top of injuries there will be suspensions, so we would like to bring bodies in and we’re working very hard to do that.

“We’re stretched for Saturday, that’s for sure. But as you saw on Tuesday at Barnsley, we’re more than capable of producing massive efforts.”

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Three of the injuries were picked up in that heroic extra-time win in the FA Cup.

With so many of his players out of contention, Bowyer said other members of his squad would have opportunities.

He added: “Tuesday night was fantastic for the club but it has certainly come at a cost.

“But what it does do is give us an opportunity to blood one or two of the younger ones, who we feel have got potential. We’ll just get on with it with whoever we’ve got.

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“It just shows you what a magnificent effort it was on Tuesday because the players just adapted.”

While Bowyer is aware he needs to bring bodies into the club, he stressed that whoever comes in has to be the right fit.

“We won’t make a desperate signing who plays one game and then we have them until the end of the season,” he said. “We’re just not going to do that.

“We had opportunities (to make a signing) but we didn’t have enough knowledge of the player who was thrown to us, so we decided not to go down that avenue.

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“In an ideal world you are always better off bringing in players who are contracted to your team rather than loans because they buy into what you do a little bit more.

“That’s because they know they are here for the next six or 18 months or whatever.

“A loan player is always only going to be here for a couple of months before they go back – that’s their mentality.

“The market being what it is, we’re looking for the right ones whether they be on loan or on a permanent deal.”

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Blackpool have confirmed that right-back Macauley Wilson will remain on loan at neighbours AFC Fylde until the end of the season.

The 19-year-old, who made his only senior Pool appearance in the Checkatrade Trophy win at Everton, has been with the Vanarama National North leaders since November.