Blackpool boss discusses development of exciting youngster

Blackpool head coach Neil Critchley reflects on Rob Apter's progress through a number of loan moves away from Bloomfield Road.

Transcript

00:00off the back of last season and the season that he had,

00:03you can see that that's given him belief and confidence in himself,

00:07but that's something Rob had anyway,

00:09that makes him the player that he is.

00:11And we had a good open conversation with Rob

00:16last summer and I could have been really selfish

00:20and kept him around, not knowing or promising him the game time

00:26that he needed at that stage of his career

00:30and we felt that was the right thing for Rob and his development.

00:36He had a fantastic season and he's back now training with the group

00:40and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does

00:43in some of our pre-season games coming up.

00:45Rob's a versatile player, he's got a good football brain

00:49and he's got an ability in the opposition's half of the pitch

00:57to be able to create and score goals for you,

01:00but he's very good on the ball and he can link play

01:03and he's got different attributes that will be interesting,

01:07but he's got some good competition around him,

01:11he knows that and this is a step up from last season,

01:14from League Two to League One

01:16and obviously we were at the top end of League One

01:18so that's also a bigger jump if you like.

01:22So he knows he's got competition,

01:25he knows he's not guaranteed to play,

01:28but none of the players are.

01:30We want a competitive squad where they come into training every day

01:35and they know they have to push themselves

01:37to get a place in the team and that's healthy.