Arsenal loanee Daniel Ballard helped Blackpool keep another clean sheet at the weekend, continuing his positive return to the team.

After a five-game absence from mid-January to mid-February, Daniel Ballard is making a strong return to the Blackpool starting lineup.

This weekend, the Arsenal loanee started away to Charlton in a 3-0 win. Starting on the right-hand side of the centre-back pairing again, he made four clearances and won five duels as the backline held Charlton to just two off-target shots all game.

Ballard made the League One Team of the Week for his last performance, a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth.

Blackpool sit in 13th right now, but there are eight teams above them that they could catch by winning their games in hand. They’ve faced a lot of match postponements, and have currently played the fewest games of any team in the league.

If they did win those games, suddenly they’re in contention for a play-off place. Given they’re on a run of five wins in six, there’s plenty to play for in the remainder of the season.

As long as the clean sheets keep coming, it’s going to be hard to leave Ballard out.