The Championship season has not been kind to Blackpool so far.

The Seasiders find themselves sitting in 23rd place after six games, with just a single point to show for their efforts, courtesy of a goalless draw against the recently promoted Wolves. Prior to the stalemate at Bloomfield Road, the Tangerines had lost their first five games in the league to the likes of Millwall, Wigan and Brentford, as well as crashing out of the Capital One Cup, losing 1-0 to Shrewsbury Town away from home.

In addition to their problems on the field, manager Jose Riga’s falling out with club chairman Karl Oyston has been well documented.

Despite only joining Blackpool in June, Riga’s days at the club already look to be numbered, with the board approaching Burton Albion boss Gary Rowett to take over from the Belgian, only for the offer to be turned down by the League Two manager. All in all, not the ideal start for a side that was playing Premier League football only three seasons ago.

In a complete contrast to this season’s efforts, Blackpool started their 2013/14 Championship campaign very brightly, winning five and drawing one of their opening six matches. However as soon as December came, the Seasiders' form plummeted and the club failed to register a win until March 11, a run of 17 matches. Of the 46 points amassed by Blackpool, only 14 of them came in 2014 – a contributing factor to the mass exodus of players that has had such a large effect on the club this season.

The summer transfer window saw as many as 26 players leave the club, 18 of which left in May. Despite ample time to do so, the club were slow to act in replacing such a vast loss of talent and as a result had to cancel their pre-season tour of Spain, as they only possessed eight players in their first-team squad.

Whilst recruitment did speed up after that, Blackpool were still only able to name 15 players in their squad for their opening day defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest; two of which were 17-year-old scholars from the youth academy.

Since then, Blackpool have finally finished adding to the squad, with a total of 19 players signing for the Tangerines. The three goals scored this season by Blackpool have all come from new permanent inclusions to the squad; one apiece for Tomasz Cywka, Nile Ranger and Nathan Delfouneso – who spent a portion of the 2013/14 campaign on loan from Aston Villa.

Watford and Blackpool shared one victory each when the two sides met in the 2013/14 calendar. The Tangerines were able to record a 1-0 win at Bloomfield Road in August, before the Hornets exacted their revenge by means of a 4-0 victory at Vicarage Road in March. It should be noted however that of the 22 Blackpool players that featured in these two matches, only four still remain at the club.

In team news, Steven Davies, Jacob Mellis and Gary McKenzie will all miss out due to injury, whilst Costa Rican midfielder José Miguel Cubero is still ineligible, after failing to secure a work permit.

Blackpool XI vs Wolves (13/9/14): Lewis; Daniels, Clarke, J Oriol, McMahon; Ludstram, Perkins, Orlandi, E Oriol; Delfouneso, Ranger.