Steve Bruce discusses Odel Offiah's availability for Blackpool's game against Crawley Town this weekend, and shares an update on Matthew Pennington.
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00:00It's the second week you've had a sigh of relief in terms of injuries with Odell, so how pleased are you that it's not the latest form?
00:06Yeah, we're a little bit concerned with him because it's the first time he's played week in and week out in his career probably.
00:12I know he's a big physical beast of a man, we forget he's only young and still learning the trade and learning how to cope with the injury situation.
00:22But we're pleasantly surprised that it's not a muscle injury, so maybe he's picked up some sort of knock.
00:27Anyway, he's trained today and he's okay, as long as there's no backlash from tomorrow then we expect him to be there, thereabouts.
00:33And that goes for Penno, who's trained all week, glad to see the bite with him.
00:38And also the only one really is Bloxham, which everybody else is fit.
00:44You mentioned on Odell, you forget how young he is, you noticed how mature he plays, how big is his future based on what you've seen?
00:51Well, he's got an outstanding chance, hasn't he? He's got all the attributes that the modern day player requires.
00:56He's big and strong and powerful, handles the ball well.
01:00There's a few times when he's been on one of these mazy runs where you can see now why the crowd like him.
01:05He's done very well.
01:08Last week we spoke about Andy Lyons, have you been able to find that friendly for him yet or is he still waiting?
01:12We could be a week on Tuesday maybe, this is how difficult it is.
01:18There's a game maybe up at Carlisle, so we'll see if he has any legs in the next week or so.
01:25But we can't expect to see him back before he's got that vital framework?
01:29I mean, look, I've seen him getting better and better and better and today, as we speak on the Thursday, was the best training session that I've seen him have.
01:37He looks in good nick, he looks confident in his knee, so we just need to get him some minutes in.
01:45But I wouldn't be opposed to where I've seen him today to be involved, if obviously I have to.
01:51But we've got to make sure that we box clever.
01:54He's been out a long time and of course it's the same knee as where he sat before, so we have to err on caution.
02:01But I'm seeing signs of I like him, he's a good kid, so let's see what happens.
02:08A few weeks ago we spoke about contracts, Sonny Curry was one player who was out of contract.
02:13You said you'd love to keep him. Has any talk started just yet?
02:16No, there's preliminary, but I think his agent might be away, so I'm glad to believe.
02:21So we'll keep bashing away with that one, plenty of time.
02:24But yeah, I think there has been initial negotiations, we'll see where that takes us.
02:29Last week, well over the last few weeks, we've played a few different systems.
02:33Of course you've played a Curry behind the striker and then you switched him back through.
02:36Different options for this weekend to consider?
02:39Well, you only change something, don't you, when you're trying to get a reaction or fix something.
02:45And it's one where we've played, I thought Sonny in the second half,
02:50revelled in the midfield player behind two strikers in the second half.
02:55And we took a bit of a gamble by having three at the back, so that's in my mind too.
03:01Look, when you're chasing a game, we've done it very, very well, I have to say.
03:06And the players have responded to it.
03:08So it always puts something in your mind, a picture in your mind of what you're going to do.
03:12So we might do something different Saturday, but we might not.
03:16Yeah, could you see yourself turning to that three at the back?
03:18Or is it something that's during a game, maybe more of an option?
03:21Well, more and more teams are playing it, that's for sure.
03:23And yeah, I think it all depends on the personality you've got available.
03:28We've got everybody available, as I said, apart from Bloxham.
03:33Defensively is the area where we need to improve.
03:36We've given too many goals away, for whatever reason.
03:39So that's something we have to improve on.
03:41So we'll keep bashing away, and if that's a change of system, then I'll look into it.
03:46And just finally, 12 points off the playoffs now.
03:48Have you ever closed a gap that's so big at this stage of the season?
03:51I remember being mid-table and not going anywhere and went on a run.
03:55Whether it was 12 points, I ain't so sure.
03:58But look, I've been at it long enough.
04:00If you can put two, three, four wins together, like we did when I first marched through the door,
04:05then it'll give us a chance.
04:07But I think that's what we have to do and realise that we haven't got much longer to keep doing it.
04:13So it's been a disappointing couple of weeks at home.
04:17We've only had two points in the last two games, and there's where it kills you.