Taylor-Fletcher in fitness race

Blackpool forward Gary Taylor-Fletcher is set to miss the start of pre-season with an ankle problem.

The 31-year-old suffered the injury in the build-up to Blackpool's Championship play-off final defeat by West Ham at Wembley. The injury robbed Taylor-Fletcher of the opportunity to help guide the Seasiders back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. He is now on the road to recovery, but will not be ready for the start of pre-season training in a couple of weeks. "The day we get back for pre-season (Thursday, July 12), it will have been eight weeks since I did it," Taylor-Fletcher told the Blackpool Gazette. "It will be a little soon to start full training then, but hopefully this injection I've had will help speed things up and I'll be fine."