Ipswich v Blackpool: Blues full-back Frazer Richardson could well have been lining up against Ipswich Town, at Portman Road, tomorrow.

The experienced 31-year-old bolstered Mick McCarthy’s defensive options when he signed on loan from Championship rivals Middlesbrough last month.

However, a week prior to his move to Suffolk, the former Leeds and Southampton defender was poised to join then-manager Paul Ince’s Blackpool team on a similar deal.

Indeed, the Rotherham-born player had trained with the Tangerines in the lead up to their game at Barnsley on January 18 and travelled with the team to Oakwell on the day of the game, in contention for a debut, only for a deal to be pulled at the last minute.

Ince was sacked after the 2-0 defeat in South Yorkshire and Richardson returned to Teeside, where he was out-of-favour, before McCarthy offered him the chance to sign for Ipswich until the end of the season.

A source close to Blackpool said: “He joined up with the team prior to Paul Ince’s final game in charge and trained with the team the day before the game.

“He then travelled to Barnsley on the coach, in a Blackpool tracksuit, but the deal fell through and he had to be collected from the ground.”

Struggling Blackpool come to Suffolk having won just just one of their previous 17 league and cup games, a run that ultimately cost Ince his job.

Former Glasgow Rangers and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Barry Ferguson has taken over in a caretaker capacity and has drawn two and lost two of his first four games in charge.

Ferguson has wasted no time in putting his mark on the team, and recently signed eight players in nine days, including Blackburn Rovers striker David Goodwillie (loan), Barnsley’s David Perkins and Richardson’s former team-mate at ‘Boro, Faris Haroun.

As for Richardson, he is out-of-contract in the summer at the Riverside Stardium and has made just 11 appearances for Aitor Karanka’s side.

The 31-year-old has previously enjoyed spells with Leeds, Stoke and Charlton.