Neil Critchley praises Blackpool's statement of intent as he discusses key consideration for the January transfer window

The Seasiders boss believes it was a statement of intent from the club to secure the future of CJ Hamilton- following reported interest from the likes of Derby County and Huddersfield Town.

As announced on Friday evening, the wing-back will now remain with Blackpool until at least June 2026.

"I’m delighted,” Critchley said.

"I brought CJ to the club when I first came. He’s just a great guy, and feeds off confidence. He’s had great support this season- he’s flying. I still think he’ll get better.

"He loves it here, and feels valued by us- which is really important. He’s a real handful and can be devastating at times. When he’s in free flow there’s no one who can stop him in this league.

"I’ve got to give credit to Simon (Sadler), because that’s a statement from us. We want to keep our best players and move forward as a group.

"CJ has been one of our top performers this season so we’re delighted that he’s decided to commit to us for the next few years.

“Retaining your players is always just as important as looking outside. Everyone gets excited by the transfer windows, but sometimes you need to look inside your building first. We need to trust our training process, we are developers of players.

"This group is improving and coming together. We will look in January, we always want to strengthen, but there’s players here that will get better.”