Sunderland midfielder Elliot Embleton admits his spell on loan at Blackpool made him a better player, allowing him to help the Black Cats to promotion the following season.
Tony Mowbray's side host Blackpool in midweek at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland look to build upon their promising campaign so far. Embleton spent the second half of the 2020/21 campaign on loan with the Seasiders after a long-term injury hampered his game time in the early months of the season.
The midfielder was given plenty of minutes under then boss Neil Critchley, with Blackpool going on an incredible run to finish in the League One play-off spots above Sunderland.
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While Sunderland and Embleton did not face each other in the semifinals, Blackpool went on to secure promotion to the Championship after beating Lincoln City in the final at Wembley.
"I was interested when the opportunity to go on loan came about. I wanted to play, and I’d just come back from injury so my chances for regular minutes were limited," said Embleton.
"It got later in the January and the Blackpool move was one which appealed to me. I’d relocated before when I went on loan to Grimsby Town, so that helped. Neil Critchley was in charge at the time – he was a top coach and said if I worked hard, there would be regular opportunities – and it turned out to be an amazing half-season.
It was a loan spell that brought Embleton's game on leaps and bounds. The following season, he returned to the Stadium of Light, this time eager to help the Black Cats achieve promotion from League One.
And under former boss Alex Neil, Sunderland and Embleton did just that. The local born midfielder played a pivotal role in their promotion push and scored the opener in their 2-0 League One play-off final win over Wycombe Wanderers.
"The spell at Blackpool definitely gave me that added edge and experience in terms of being part of a promotion-winning side, of course," added Embleton. "I was even more eager to go and do the same with Sunderland, the team I grew up playing for. I now knew what it took to have that great run to the Play-Offs, the winning mentality and then going one better and winning promotion for a second-straight season.
"To score at Wembley was special – by far the most important goal of my career so far. That got us off and running and I think from there, we controlled the game with a real professional team performance."
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