Why Elias Sorensen has been benched at Blackpool – just weeks after joining from Newcastle United

Elias Sorensen has found himself third-choice striker at Blackpool – less than a month after joining the club on loan.
Elias Sorensen.Elias Sorensen.
Elias Sorensen.

Sorensen was loaned to the League One club for first-team football after netting 19 goals for Newcastle United's Under-23s in the first half of the campaign.

But the 19-year-old striker has only played 32 minutes of football so far for Blackpool.

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Sorensen was an unused substitute for Blackpool against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night.

The experienced Armand Gnanduillet – who has scored 11 goals this season – is Blackpool manager Terry McPhillips' first-choice striker.

And 23-year-old Chris Long, signed in January, has been coming off the bench ahead of Sorensen, who hasn't featured since making his debut on January 29.

McPhillips is understood to have given United assurances that Sorensen – who scored for Denmark's Under-21s last month – would get games at Blackpool, where midfielder Sean Longstaff had a successful loan last season.

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Speaking last month after joining Blackpool, Sorensen said: "I spoke to Sean, and he liked it when he was here. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me as well.

"I'm excited to see what it brings. Hopefully I can get a few games in League One and show what I'm capable of."

Sorensen signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract at St James's Park last month before moving to Bloomfield Road on loan.