Kevin Stewart and Jake Beesley still have a big part to play for Blackpool despite being left out of 22-man squad

The injured duo have been left out of the 22-man squad Blackpool named following the closure of the recent transfer window.

However, Appleton says the players – who are both suffering with a stress fracture of the foot – will be registered in the squad as and when they’re back to full fitness.

In the meantime, Pool’s head coach is happy to leave three gaps free in Blackpool’s squad list, with the Seasiders still open to signing free agents.

“I’m going to keep them free,” Appleton told The Gazette when asked about the three spaces.

“Once Bees and Kev are available to train and play, they will go into the squad.

“They’ve both got a big part to play for us going forward, 100 per cent. But in terms of putting them in now, it would have been daft just because of the types of injuries they’ve got.

“It’s a little bit different with someone like Lewis Fiorini who has got a hamstring injury because there’s a timeline.

“With both Kev and definitely Jake, who has an appointment next week to see where the healing is with his foot, it’s a little bit different because you don’t know what you’re going to get with these scans.

“As and when we need to, we will add them to the squad, but right now at this minute we didn’t feel as though we needed to do it.”

The Seasiders had looked to sign former Chelsea and Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater on a free transfer, with the club going “above and beyond” in their efforts to do so according to Appleton.

But the Seasiders have failed in their bid to bring in the 32-year-old, with Appleton confirming a potential deal is now “dead in the water”.

Elsewhere, Appleton confirmed Liam Bridcutt is currently training with the club with a view to earning a contract.

The 33-year-old, who played under Appleton at Lincoln City, is another central midfielder.

One player who won’t be re-signing with the Seasiders is Grant Ward, although the 27-year-old does continue to train with the club to help build up his fitness.