Blackpool's Shayne Lavery discusses playing out of position, remaining patient and recent tactical work

Given the injury problems they’ve endured for much of the season, Blackpool have been forced to play several players out of position.

Lavery, an out-and-out number nine, has been among them, playing on the right and even on the left on occasion while Jerry Yates has also followed a similar pattern.

“We do a lot of that in training,” Lavery told Blackpool’s preview show.

“I’ll end up on the left or the right or even up top at times. With injuries and stuff that has to happen.

“Sometimes I just want to go (and close down) but out wide you have to be a bit more patient. I’ve adapted more lately by being more patient and not just running about everywhere.

“The off-the-ball stuff was the hardest thing I had to get used to, but I feel like I am getting better at it as the games go on.

“Everyone in the team has to be adaptable and be able to play in different positions because of all the injuries and stuff.

“I’ve played there for Northern Ireland before so I am used to it a little bit, but every game is different so I’m just trying to keep up the consistency.”

That tactical work is something the Seasiders worked heavily on during their time away in Spain during their warm weather training camp.

“We got the week off before we went to Spain, which was good. A few lads got a little holiday,” Lavery added.

“Spain was great. It was great just to be in and around the lads for the full six or seven days and I think we all gelled a little bit more. It was a great trip and definitely worth going.

“Another good thing from the trip, as well as the bonding, was the work we did on the pitch because we did a lot.

“We worked on becoming a lot more solid as a team and harder to break down, especially from set pieces as well.

“We’ve done a lot of work on that and thankfully it’s worked quite well so far.”