Daniel Grimshaw is awake and responsive in hospital after the serious injury that marred Preston’s 1-0 win over Blackpool, according to Seasiders boss Neil Critchley.
Cameron Archer grabbed the winner in 11 minutes of first-half stoppage time after Blackpool goalkeeper Grimshaw had been involved in a severe collision with the Preston ace early on in the contest.
The Tangerines rallied for an equaliser throughout the second period but were unable to haul themselves level as the hosts leapfrogged them up to 13th in the Championship table.
Grimshaw, 24, was given oxygen and taken off on a stretcher in the 20th minute but boss Critchley said: “He is awake, he is in hospital and he is responsive, so that is positive news so far.
“It was a horrible situation to see Grimmy come off so early – you could tell straight away that he got caught.
“When he is down for so long, you are trying to get some information. I walked onto the pitch myself because I was really concerned about him.”
Critchley, whose side are now 16th in the table and without a win in three, added: “It’s not the night we wanted.
“I thought that if anything, we were the better team. The game has been decided by a moment of quality that they produced and we didn’t.
“I have said that too many times this season and I am saying it again tonight.
“Generally between both boxes we had control of the game, particularly in the second half.
“When we did get around the box we failed through poor choices and poor quality.
“I thought we handled the occasion, we weren’t out-fought, out-battled or out-won. The difference is their striker showed a moment of quality but we didn’t. That is the fine margins.”
Preston had the best chances throughout, starting when Ben Whiteman’s corner was nodded onto the crossbar by Andrew Hughes.
The woodwork was struck again soon after when Brad Potts was released by Alan Browne, with Potts’ effort deflected onto the crossbar before Emil Riis Jakobsen lost his footing and could not finish the follow-up.
Archer had been in the action for the whole first half and it was him who got the breakthrough in the extensive injury time period, taking a touch from Potts’ pass and firing into the far corner.
The introduction of Shayne Lavery injected additional impetus for Blackpool in the second half but despite Keshi Anderson going close with a free-kick, they were unable to rescue a point.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe said: “I was really pleased with the result, pleased for the fans, and that’s certainly for them.
“We had a bit of disappointment down at their place, we wanted to try and put that right. I thought the football in the first half was fantastic.
“The second half was a little bit different. They changed shape a couple of times and we had to make sure we dealt with it. They have got a threat from certain individuals – but overall I’m pleased with the performance and pleased with the result.
“[The atmosphere] was fantastic – I knew it was going to be like that. I had heard about it and I had spoken to certain people about it.
“When I saw it packed out I thought ‘that’s what we want’. This is what we want to achieve – we want to get Deepdale packed to the rafters every week.”
