Daniel Gretarsson suffers double injury blow during Blackpool's pivotal victory against Sunderland

The centre-back was forced off with 14 minutes remaining at Bloomfield Road after a heroic display alongside Dan Ballard.

The central defenders were in top form as they helped the Seasiders edge a tense, cagey encounter 1-0 against their promotion rivals.

When asked about Gretarsson’s condition post-match, head coach Neil Critchley said: “He’s in a bit of pain. He’s got ice on his leg, so he’s got a dead leg. He’s dislocated his shoulder as well, but we’ve put it back in.

“He’s in a bit of pain, he’s got some pain relief at the moment so I’m not exactly sure where he knows where he is at this moment in time.

“He’s got a big smile on his face but I don’t think he’s smiling because we won, I think it’s because of the pain relief!

“We’ll just have to see how he is over the next day or two.”

The Seasiders were also dealt a blow when Demetri Mitchell had to hobble off late on, but that’s not thought to be too serious.

“It was just cramp,” Critchley added.

“He put so much into the game and he’s an explosive player, so those players - when they’re doing repeated sprints up and down the pitch - it can catch up with them.

“It just caught up with Demi a little bit towards the end but I thought he was a real handful again.”

Jordan Thorniley, the man to replace Gretarsson, stepped in seamlessly and helped Pool see out the nervy final moments.

The defender also drew praise from Critchley, who said: “You want the subs to come on and make an impact, whether it’s an attacking player or a defender, you want them to do the job you’re asking them to do.

“You bring an attacker on, you’re asking them to keep the ball for you and run the channels and I told Jordan they were going longer and hitting long balls, so you know you’re going to have to compete well in the air and cover around Dan sometimes.

“You might have to head a few crosses out and a few set-pieces and I thought he did it fantastically well.

“He’s dead calm, he never looks flustered on the pitch and he’s always in control.

“I know his performance wasn’t for that long but he definitely helped us to see the game out.”

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