Blackpool’s injury woes continue but the Tangerines look to continue their unbeaten run

Blackpool are heading into Saturday’s fixture against Nottingham Forest without two pivotal figures in the form of Chris Maxwell and Shayne Lavery.

Maxwell has been carrying a thigh injury that has finally resulted in an extended spell on the sidelines, with Lavery suffering a similar fate with his hamstring injury.

Since his arrival at Bloomfield Road, Maxwell has stepped up to the plate on each and every occasion becoming a fans favourite, and one of, if not the best player in the side since Neil Critchley arrived at the club.

As a captain, he has been a vocal figure on the pitch and clearly has a huge influence on the squad with an air of confidence surrounding the defence whenever Maxwell is between the sticks.

With Lavery, as an unheralded new arrival from Linfield in the summer, he has taken the Championship by storm with five goals in 11 appearances safely putting his name amongst the top attacking players in the division.

Richard Keogh was another casualty of the hard-fought victory over Blackburn Rovers before the international break but he may potentially make the Forest fixture, but if he is not available he’ll likely be back for the trip to Reading in midweek.

However, Neil Critchley has encountered these struggles many times before at Blackpool.

Whether it be Dan Ballard, Gary Madine or Kenny Dougall, pretty much all of his squad last season spent time on the sidelines and it forced Critchley into adapting his system, tactics and personnel on a game-by-game basis.

Yet where other managers may have sunk at that point, this is where the ex-Liverpool coach came into his own, utilising his squad when others felt those available would be unable to step up and picking up vital victories along the way to promotion.

Lavery and Maxwell’s impact on this side cannot be understated. Both have already shown their worth and played a key part whenever Blackpool have been on the winning side but to put the Seasiders’ good start to the campaign down to individuals would be misinterpreting why Blackpool are where they are.

Recent victories against Barnsley, Middlesbrough and Blackburn and most impressively Fulham came about because the entire squad has an understanding of their roles should they make the starting 11, what that role is expected to do in a game both on and off the ball and an understanding of how each role links with one another.

Blackpool has never been about an individual game. Relying on individual moments to drag them through games is not something they look to unless they are increasingly desperate in a one-off fixture.

Pressing with the intensity and organisation from the front as they did against Blackburn, Barnsley and Fulham, in particular, requires a full squad to have the ability to play it out.

The intensity of Blackpool’s game will see more of these muscle injuries becoming increasingly frequent because of how much Neil Critchley expects from his players week in week out.

Whilst there are areas of the Tangerines’ squad that could do with more depth, Critchley purposely did not go out and fill those holes with just any player because he would rather wait for the right one that he can trust to perform the duties expected within his fluid systems.

Where there’s a Shayne Lavery, there’s a Jerry Yates to step up, much like he did when he came on against Blackburn Rovers, as he saw his opportunity to kickstart his campaign in a similar vain to last season and he took it.

Similarly at the back, where there’s a Chris Maxwell, there’s a Stuart Moore to step up. Moore’s pivotal save towards the end of the game against the Rovers showcased his ability to stand up when required despite having minimal game time for the club since his arrival.

Both Yates and Moore can perform the same duties in the system as Maxwell and Lavery can and they have shown their worth in the opportunities they have been given.

Yates has an incredible work ethic which enables him to press with such intensity to force turnovers and create chances, and with his first goal of the season under his belt, confidence will be flowing ahead of the fixture in Nottingham.

Likewise, Moore is a patient figure who knows his place in the setup given the performances of Chris Maxwell, but he has bided his time continuing to work hard and has shown he has the range of passing, positional sense and general shot-stopping ability required to breed confidence into the defence in front of him.

Even Dan Grimshaw, the summer signing from Manchester City who may also be in contention for Maxwell’s place, came to the club precisely because he has the aforementioned attributes that are required to play a role in Critchley’s squad.

Yes, of course, the loss of two key figures feels like a blow to Blackpool but fans have gone through those nerves time and time again in the League One promotion campaign and another player from the squad who was unfancied has stepped up, it is just what this squad does and will continue to do starting on Saturday.

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