Blackpool take on play-off rivals Oxford United at Bloomfield Road in an EFL League One clash on Saturday.
The Seasiders must bounce back from their defeat to Stevenage last weekend and make a statement if they are to be involved in the end of-season play-offs. Only one place separates Blackpool and Oxford but the U's hold a five point advantage over the Tangerines and so this presents an opportunity to Neil Critchley's side to claw some points back.
Blackpool are six points off of the play-offs and Stevenage have a game in hand so they'll be hoping for a slip up from those above whilst knowing that their form from now until the end of the season will need to be top. Pool have a trip to Peterborough United this month as well as a home match against Bolton Wanderers so taking points off of those who have a lead over them is a must.
Earlier on in the season the two sides drew 1-1 at the Kassam Stadium. Greg Leigh opened the scoring for the U's but Jordan Rhodes equalised with a 92nd minute penalty. The last win that Blackpool recorded over Oxford was in the 2020/21 season when they won 3-0 in the League One play-offs. Their last regular season win was in March 2021, winning 2-1 at the Kassam. Blackpool havem't won at home against Oxford since August 2019.
Oxford have had some good news over the last week and are set to welcome back five players to the fold including Will Goodwin who has yet to make his debut since joining from Cheltenham Town in January. Here's the latest injury and team news ahead of Saturday's clash.
1. Jake Beesley - out
Limped off against Port Vale at the end of December. He's been training for the last few weeks but the weekend comes too soon. Photo: CameraSport - Andrew Kearns
2. Jake Beesley - out (continued)
Neil Critchley said on February 8: "Everyone else is fine. Jake Beesley has started to do some training this week which is a real plus- he’s starting to integrate back into the group which means he’s getting closer all of the time.” Photo: CameraSport - Andrew Kearns
3. Jordan Rhodes - out
Suffered a rib injury at the end of January against Charlton. He has not featured since. Photo: CameraSport - Ian Cook
4. Jordan Rhodes - out (continued)
Neil Critchley said on January 8: "He’s improving day by day, he’s been back at the training ground this week after having a period at home because he was struggling to be mobile. "With rib injuries there’s not a lot you can do; you’ve just got to rest. A lot of it is pain management, so we’ve just got to take it day by day. You don’t need a scan, because you know it could potentially be cracked, so you just go off his symptoms. "He’ll be very doubtful for this weekend, and with Tuesday coming so quickly we’d have to see. We’d like to see him training to test him fully, but we’ve not done that yet." Photo: CameraSport - Dave Howarth
6. Will Goodwin - available
Signed from Cheltenham Town for a reported £400,000. Yet to make his debut for his new club after signing in mid-January but is in line to appear at the weekend after recovering from a minor quad injury.