‘Looked sharp’ - Blackpool star in contention to face Reading after injury boost

Neil Critchley has said that Shayne Lavery is in contention for Blackpool’s clash with Reading at Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

Lavery picked up a hamstring injury in the 3-0 defeat to Lincoln City last month, and was ruled out of Northern Ireland’s EURO 2024 qualifiers as a result.

The 24-year-old is the Tangerines’ leading marksman this season with two goals in five League One matches and his potential return could be a welcomed one.

He was close to being involved against Wycombe Wanderers last weekend, but now has a greater chance of a return against the Royals.

“There’s not much change from last week really,” said Critchley when asked about the current injury status of the squad.

“Shayne’s trained this week, he’s had a good week in training. He comes into contention to come back into the squad.

“He’s looked sharp this week in training he has. He’s had a good start to the season, a really good pre-season.

“The injury didn’t really come at a great time for him, he was finding a bit of rhythm. He wants to have a really good season and score a lot of goals.

“He’s looked good in training, we’ll see how much involvement he gets on Saturday.”

Lavery’s return means that the only players unavailable to him at the weekend are long-term absentees Jordan Gabriel and Kyle Joseph.

Right-back Andy Lyons is another player making a push to make a return. He hasn't featured since the 3-0 defeat to Lincoln in late August, and has missed the matches against Wigan, Barrow and Wycombe, due to family reasons.

“He’s been training, he came back at the end of last week,” added Critchley.

“He’s missed a period of time, being back at home, it’s again getting him back up to speed and deciding when he’s physically and mentally ready to come back into the squad.