Neil Critchley has issued an update on one of his key Blackpool players ahead of their clash against Derby County.
Derby County are looking to bounce back from their defeat to Northampton Town last time out when they face Blackpool at Pride Park. The margins at the top of League One are slim, meaning any slip-up could be costly in the race for promotion.
Paul Warne hasn’t been helped by injury troubles over the last few weeks though, claiming he could field a starting XI of just injured players, such is the extent of the problem.
The Derby boss did deliver some good news on the injury front as Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is in contention to feature after his scan came back positive while top scorer James Collins has returned earlier than expected following his long-term knee injury.
Having their two most influential attacking players back is a huge boost, though the Rams do still have nine players out injured with their opponents not faring much better in that regard.
Blackpool injury latest
Blackpool boss Neil Critchley has experienced similar problems on the injury front and has explained which players are missing for their trip to Derbyshire.
The Seasiders, who currently sit three points behind the play-offs in ninth, have five players out injured.
One of those is right-back Andy Lyons, with Critchley revealing the surgery he had on his ACL injury yesterday was successful.
Blackpool are also without midfielder Albie Morgan (thigh) and left-back James Husband (knee), who are both doubtful for this weekend.
Critchley dropped a further update on top scorer Jordan Rhodes, and it doesn’t look good for the visitors.
Neil Critchley drops Jordan Rhodes injury update
Rhodes is an EFL scoring machine and Derby supporters will be familiar with him.
The former Blackburn Rovers striker has netted past the Rams four times across his career.
Despite celebrating his 34th birthday last month, the man who has scored 208 goals in the Championship and League One shows no signs of slowing down.
Currently on loan at Blackpool from Huddersfield Town, the veteran sharpshooter has bagged 15 goals in 29 appearances for the Tangerines this term.
Unfortunately, Rhodes was forced off in the defeat to Wigan Athletic prior to the international break with Critchley confirming he’s returned to Huddersfield for treatment.
The Blackpool boss thinks it’ll be “touch and go” as to whether he’ll feature this season, although damaged ligaments to the knee is an injury that doesn’t sound promising.
“It’s ligaments in his knee for Jordan Rhodes, it’s a blocked tackle and he’s opened up the ligaments in his knee,” Critchley told Blackpool’s official website.
“It’s really unfortunate, he tried to carry on but he came off and he was in discomfort. He’s back at Huddersfield, we’re in constant communication with them there and we still haven’t ruled out him appearing for us again this season.”
The visitors may be without their 15-goal striker tomorrow afternoon, but Derby still need to be wary of Karamoko Dembele’s threat, with the 21-year-old producing seven goals and 12 assists this term.
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