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Neil Critchley on the chances of Daniel Gretarsson making his Blackpool debut against Ipswich, a potential headache at centre-back and fitness of injured trio
Neil Critchley has refused to rule out Daniel Gretarsson from making his Blackpool debut on Saturday despite admitting he will need time to get up to speed.
“We have a recruitment team who works tirelessly behind the scenes and we now have access to players in different countries,” Critchley said of Blackpool’s latest signing.
“Daniel has been on our radar for a while, so we’ve done a lot of work and have had to be patient - which sometimes you have to be.
“He’s been playing in his league in Norway and he was out of contract in January. We’re delighted he’s here. He flew over on Tuesday night and I spoke to him on Wednesday.
“Hopefully we can now get him integrated into the squad as quickly as possible. He’s not played for about three or four weeks now, but he’s fit and he’s ready to go. Hopefully we can get him up to speed as quickly as possible.”
When asked if Saturday’s game will come too soon for the defender, Critchley added: “We’re going to assess him today. He flew over late on Tuesday night so I managed to speak to him on Wednesday. We didn’t train yesterday but hopefully he’ll be involved in training today.
“We have to be mindful that he hasn’t played for a month and the fact he’s coming into a new country with new players.
“I’m not ruling it out completely. We’ll assess him in the next 48 hours and have a chat and a conversation to see where he’s at. But I think we’ve also got to be fair to him as well.”
Critchley could have a potential selection headache at centre-back if Gretarsson isn’t involved, with James Husband also out through suspension following his straight red card in last week’s defeat to Lincoln City.
Michael Nottingham, meanwhile, is unlikely to feature having been left out of Blackpool’s last two match-day squads.
That could present an opportunity for Jordan Thorniley, who performed well in a rare appearance in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night.
“With one person’s misfortune it opens up another door for someone else,” Critchley said of Husband’s absence.
We’ve got a couple of things we could do and it’s something we’ve discussed as staff and will work on before making a decision that we feel will be the right one for the team on Saturday.”
Elsewhere, Pool trio Matty Virtue, Sullay Kaikai and Gary Madine remain injury doubts.
“Matty won’t be ready for Saturday, he’s going to be a little bit longer than maybe we would have hoped for,” Critchley said.
“We’ve still got two training sessions to go so we’re still hopeful on Sullay. He’s been back on the grass now for a couple of days running and getting up to speed, twisting and turning and doing football specific movements, so we’re hopeful he can be included on Saturday.
Neil Critchley has refused to rule out Daniel Gretarsson from making his Blackpool debut on Saturday despite admitting he will need time to get up to speed.
“We have a recruitment team who works tirelessly behind the scenes and we now have access to players in different countries,” Critchley said of Blackpool’s latest signing.
“Daniel has been on our radar for a while, so we’ve done a lot of work and have had to be patient - which sometimes you have to be.
“He’s been playing in his league in Norway and he was out of contract in January. We’re delighted he’s here. He flew over on Tuesday night and I spoke to him on Wednesday.
“Hopefully we can now get him integrated into the squad as quickly as possible. He’s not played for about three or four weeks now, but he’s fit and he’s ready to go. Hopefully we can get him up to speed as quickly as possible.”
When asked if Saturday’s game will come too soon for the defender, Critchley added: “We’re going to assess him today. He flew over late on Tuesday night so I managed to speak to him on Wednesday. We didn’t train yesterday but hopefully he’ll be involved in training today.
“We have to be mindful that he hasn’t played for a month and the fact he’s coming into a new country with new players.
“I’m not ruling it out completely. We’ll assess him in the next 48 hours and have a chat and a conversation to see where he’s at. But I think we’ve also got to be fair to him as well.”
Critchley could have a potential selection headache at centre-back if Gretarsson isn’t involved, with James Husband also out through suspension following his straight red card in last week’s defeat to Lincoln City.
Michael Nottingham, meanwhile, is unlikely to feature having been left out of Blackpool’s last two match-day squads.
That could present an opportunity for Jordan Thorniley, who performed well in a rare appearance in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night.
“With one person’s misfortune it opens up another door for someone else,” Critchley said of Husband’s absence.
We’ve got a couple of things we could do and it’s something we’ve discussed as staff and will work on before making a decision that we feel will be the right one for the team on Saturday.”
Elsewhere, Pool trio Matty Virtue, Sullay Kaikai and Gary Madine remain injury doubts.
“Matty won’t be ready for Saturday, he’s going to be a little bit longer than maybe we would have hoped for,” Critchley said.
“We’ve still got two training sessions to go so we’re still hopeful on Sullay. He’s been back on the grass now for a couple of days running and getting up to speed, twisting and turning and doing football specific movements, so we’re hopeful he can be included on Saturday.
