Stoke City v Blackpool PREVIEW: Former Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill looks ahead to Carabao Cup first round tie

The Seasiders head to the bet365 Stadium on Saturday for what will be their first competitive game of the new season, almost six months on from their last one.

Thompson, who made the move to Stoke for an undisclosed fee in January, will be hoping to feature against his former employees in the Carabao Cup first round tie.

He left Bloomfield Road after making 67 appearances during his two seasons in tangerine, scoring four goals.

Michael O’Neill’s men, who only finished their Championship campaign at the end of July, will be without a host of first-team regulars in Sam Vokes, Ryan Shawcross, Joe Allen and Thibaud Verlinden.

But the Potters will still be able to name a strong side on the back of making four new additions this summer in the form of Morgan Fox, James Chester, Steven Fletcher and former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel.

O’Neill says his Stoke side, who finished the Championship campaign with four victories from their last six games, want to maintain that winning feeling.

He told the Stoke Sentinel: “You want to win games, that’s a mentality thing, and this cup game gives us an opportunity against a team that will come here hungry to win the game as well. We won’t treat the game lightly at all.

“In the two seasons in the Championship the team has started poorly and we want to address that.

“I wouldn’t say we’ll go for tried and tested regulars because I’m not sure we have too many of them to be honest!

“We’ll pick a team designed to win the game, picked with one eye on September 12 as well. That’s a combination of fitness and tactics as well. That’s how we’ll approach the game.”

Blackpool have enjoyed a strong pre-season programme, winning three of their five friendlies and drawing with Premier League side Everton.

Having watched the Seasiders in action, former Northern Ireland boss O’Neill is expecting a tough task on Saturday.

“Any League One team that comes to play a team above them has a point to prove,” he said.

“The players have a point to prove because they want to show they should be at your club and should be interested in them.

“The coach wasn’t in the job very long before lockdown and they obviously didn’t play after lockdown. They’ve probably had quite a fractured period when the manager was desperate to get his hands on his players but wasn’t able to do so.

“But based on what we saw against Everton, we saw a team that want to press and press high up the pitch, very similar to what we see with Liverpool where the coach previously worked.

“That will be a good test for us because we’ve got to play smart. There will be times to build the game and times not to build the game and hopefully that will be where our experience comes through on Saturday.”