“It’s great to have him back”: Blackpool central defender returned from injury against Aston Villa’s U21s
Central defender made his first Blackpool appearance since April when coming off the bench on Tuesday.
Ian Evatt was pleased to have Fraser Horsfall back at his disposal following his return to competitive action on Tuesday.
The central defender returned after six months out with an ankle injury when making an appearance off the bench in the Seasiders’ Jersey Mike’s Trophy tie against Aston Villa’s U21s.
Horsfall replaced Zac Ashworth going into the final 20 minutes at Bloomfield Road, where Evatt’s players completed their group stage campaign with a 3-2 win.
The 29-year-old had only returned to training last Friday but Evatt admitted it was always part of the plan to give him some minutes.
“He’s only trained two days,” Blackpool’s head coach said after Tuesday’s win.
“Mid-season, it’s hard to get the games in for him.
“We can’t arrange any other games because we haven’t got the players and personnel to be able to do it.
“We have to try and get him fit in these types of games and also his training load.
“It’s great to have him back. Obviously there’s going to be ring rust, he’s been out for six months.
“He’ll get there quick. Just having him around, having him available, is a big influence for the rest of the team.”
Tuesday’s match saw Evatt make five changes from the starting XI which lost to Mansfield Town in League One last weekend.
Luke Southwood, Andy Lyons, Jordan Brown, Hayden Coulson and Finley Munroe all came in as Blackpool secured the win they needed to have any chance of qualifying from the group stages.
Subscribe now for HALF PRICE and catch every minute of our Seasiders coverage this season - from pre-season to the final whistle. click here
Further forward, Dion Charles and Dale Taylor again started up front before - as was the case on Saturday - they were replaced by Jerry Yates and Tom Bloxham.
Again, Evatt said that was a pre-planned decision ahead of Sunday’s return to league matters at Sheffield Wednesday.
He explained: “We wanted to split the minutes because we’ve got four very good strikers; five with Niall (Ennis) who’s close to returning.
“Today, it was just about making sure everyone’s got enough minutes to be prepared correctly for Sunday.”