Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has lavished praise on midfielder Keith Southern and admits that the Seasiders have 'missed him'.

The 29-year-old, who has been at Bloomfield Road since moving from Everton in 2002, has been a key player throughout, with Ollie quick to recognise what he brings to the side.

"I just think that boy sums up this football club," he said. "For me, he's one of the Mr Blackpools and I think we've even missed him as a person. We've missed his shouts that he says every week just before we go out, and in some of these games it has been evident that we haven't had his type of player.

"I'd like that type of player in my team for the rest of my life, because what you see is what you get. He never changes, he always trains the same way and he's a different class bloke. I think the improvement he's made with the ball at his feet is quite phenomenal."

Southern made a return to action following a knee injury on Monday in the reserves' 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa but doesn't expect to just come straight back in the side. It's a tough selection poser for the manager, given the way other players performed against Fulham.

"That's a decision I'll have to make," Ollie said. "For me, he hasn't done enough yet, I don't consider one performance cameo in the reserves that lost 4-0 a way of pushing someone out of the team who has done really well for me in the last couple of weeks.

"But I've got some fantastic, warm memories of how he's played for me and the more he's on the training ground, the more he'll have a chance to impress me. What I can't do is risk him again, that's the problem."