Rafa Benitez reacts to Elias Sorensen's lack of games at Blackpool

Rafa Benitez is keen to see Elias Sorensen get more minutes on the field at Blackpool.
Elias Sorensen.Elias Sorensen.
Elias Sorensen.

The striker, loaned to the League One club last month, has managed just 32 minutes so far.

Sorensen – who scored 19 goals for Newcastle’s Under-23s in the first half of the season, but is third in the pecking order at Bloomfield Road – didn’t even make the bench for Blackpool’s last game.

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Asked about the 19-year-old’s situation, Benitez said: “The reality is that when the players are around, and they don’t have a chance in the first team, we (say) ‘maybe they can go on loan’.

“If they go on loan and are not playing, is it better or worse?

“They have another experience, another environment, but maybe they are not playing. We have two or three who are not playing.

“We have to be really careful when they go to be sure the manager likes the player, the style of football is good and the player can play.

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“Then you cannot blame the manager, because he will have his own idea, but why was the player going on loan there? In theory, because he has to play – at least at the beginning.

“After, you can say ‘listen, he was not doing what I was expecting’, and then you can change the decision. The young players, they have to play if possible. That’s it.”

United, however, are understood to be relaxed about Sorensen’s lack of games given that this is his first loan away from St James’s Park.

Blackpool manager Terry McPhillips addressed Sorensen’s lack of games this week.

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McPhillips said: “There was no issue. Some good players have missed out on squads. I think the week before Chris Taylor and Michael Nottingham missed out.

“If we get a couple of players back, I’ll have the same problem this weekend, so I don’t know who will miss out, but someone will have to.

“It’s not the nice part of the job, but it is part of the job.”

Sorensen signed a new deal at United before joining Blackpool on loan.