Jak Alnwick seeks regular football with Blackpool after completing a loan move from Rangers

The 26-year-old sealed a loan deal from Rangers yesterday, following striker Ryan Hardie in making the move south of the border.

Simon Grayson moved quickly to bring in a keeper with number one Mark Howard expected to remain sidelined until at least October.

The 32-year-old is continuing his recovery after undergoing surgery on a ruptured Achilles, an injury he suffered at Burton Albion towards the end of last season.

And Alnwick is hoping to take full advantage of Howard’s misfortune and hold on to that number one jersey for as long as possible.

“There is a lot of competition in there,” he said.

“Mark has had a nasty injury so he’s going to be out for a while.

“But speaking to my brother (Ben), he told me Mark is a top goalkeeper, so when he comes back it’s going to be good competition.

“There’s other boys here as well and the lads work well. The better competition, the better it makes you.

“You can’t take your foot off the gas and a club with ambition like this, you’ve always got to have that competition in each position to keep pushing you.

“Hopefully I can get the number one shirt and keep it for as long as I can.”

The former Newcastle United man made 11 appearances during his time at Rangers following his £300,000 move from Port Vale in January 2017.

But he’s found himself down the pecking order at Ibrox behind Allan McGregor and Wes Foderingham, and manager Steven Gerrard was happy to loan him out.

“There was a chance I could get games here and there, but I’m not the sort who likes to sit around in the chance I might only get a handful of games,” Alnwick added.

“I’m the type who wants to get in the team and I want to prove on a Saturday why I should be in the team.

“I’ve known a lot of players over the years who have been the best players on the training ground, but come Saturday they sometimes don’t do it.

“I want to show people what I can do. With a year left on my deal at Rangers I want to be showing people what I can do and it’s time for me to be a little bit selfish and prove I can do it at this level.”

Alnwick, who becomes Pool’s seventh signing of the summer, spent last season on loan at Scunthorpe United, where he made 43 appearances in all competitions.

The Iron were reportedly interested in bringing the 26-year-old back to Glanford Park but it is the Seasiders who have sealed his signature.