Cooke wants Seasiders to make strides

The Seasiders, who clinched promotion back to the third tier of English football via the League Two play-offs last season, are among the bookies’ favourites to finish in the bottom four.

But Cooke, who came up against his new club with Crewe Alexandra last season, believes Gary Bowyer’s side are capable of much more.

“I want to push on with Blackpool and hopefully get them to creep up the table,” he said.

“People often have this image of a newly-promoted side being near the bottom of the table but we don’t want to be like that. We want to keep on pushing and I think we have some great players to do that.”

Cooke signed on a season-long loan from Middlesbrough on Tuesday and will make his first appearance in tangerine today.

He enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at Crewe in League Two last season, netting four times in 17 appearances as well as bagging a number of assists.

But the 20-year-old, who is highly thought of by his parent club Middlesbrough, is looking forward to making the transition to League One.

He added: “Thankfully I did well in League Two last season but I’ve made the step up now so hopefully I can take that into League One this time.

“My goal return and the creative side of things were shown (at Crewe) and hopefully I can bring that to Blackpool.

“I’m hoping to bring some creativity to the midfield here, get a few goals and assists again, and hopefully go back to Middlesbrough a better player.”