After joining Blackpool in the summer, Kyle Joseph is getting closer to making his debut after leaving Swansea City.
The striker has had a difficult time adjusting to life at Bloomfield Road.
He debuted from the bench in an away EFL Cup match against Derby County back in August after bouncing back from an earlier injury.
Regretfully, he was hit again a few days later, and he was unable to play in Tangerine again until last week’s match against Bolton Wanderers.
This Saturday, when the Seasiders welcome Shrewsbury Town to Bloomfield Road, the 22-year-old may make his home debut. Neil Critchley, the manager of Blackpool, is enthusiastic about Joseph’s potential but warns that he will need to exercise some patience while he works to regain his fitness. Every day in training, Kyle demonstrates his quality—he’s so sharp,” he remarked.
He is an excellent player. He can run in behind and link plays because he is a two-footed player. It’s important to recognise his current situation and his background, so let’s not have high expectations for him right now. Given that he is joining a new group and that we are expecting him to perform new tasks, we must give him some space to breathe. We don’t want to give him too much too quickly. We’ll give him time to calm down and develop into the player we believe he can be.
He may have been away for a while, but he doesn’t appear rusty. His touch is there, and he immediately gets oriented on the pitch. He simply knows when and where to be. Games are what he needs right now, and training replicates that too much.
Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel is recovering from a chronic injury alongside Joseph.
The wing-back played in the 2-1 EFL Trophy victory over Morecambe, marking his first appearance since April.
While Critchley acknowledges that it can be challenging to strike a balance in order to provide players with the support they require after an extended period of time off the pitch, he remains optimistic that both Joseph and Lawrence-Gabriel will be fully recovered in the coming weeks.
Giving them the minutes they require is challenging because it’s not pre-season, when you can allocate 45 or 60 minutes to each player. Competitive games really don’t allow you to do that,” he continued. Lawrence-Gabriel had a great opportunity to play 45 minutes the other night. He was great, in my opinion, and it really helped him.
His performance captivated the audience. There was a small rush of adrenaline from playing once more.
“We made sure Kyle had a full week of training before this game by starting him off the bench for 15–20 minutes (against Bolton). He’s an amazing athlete who is naturally fit. We would take it into consideration if we felt it was appropriate for him to begin a game. Although we can’t wait to watch him play, we also need to exercise patience with him.
