LATEST: News over Portsmouth future of Blackpool loanee amid fears of January recall

Blackpool boss Michael Appleton has confirmed he is happy for the winger to see out his season-long loan at Fratton Park.

Speculation of the 24-year-old’s future has been up in the air in recent weeks as the Seasiders head coach toyed with a recall in January.

After arriving in August, Dale has impressed for the Blues – adding plenty of creativity and pace down the right-flanks following Marcus Harness’ departure.

Indeed, the former Crewe ace has registered four assists and scored one goal in 28 outings in all competitions, in a side who have struggled to find the back of the net during their recent slump.

His bright start prompted Appleton to act in November when injuries crippled his Championship relegation-threatened squad.

This saw the Seasiders boss rule the winger out of Pompey’s first two FA Cup fixtures against Hereford and MK Dons respectively as he kept his options open.

But after making a surprise u-turn, Dale was given permission by his parent club to appear for the Blues' third round tie against Spurs earlier this month.

Blackpool have already strengthened in that position in the window, with Morgan Rogers and Josh Bowler joining from Manchester City and Nottingham Forest respectively.

Now Appleton has confirmed he is not seeking to cut short the winger’s loan spell on the south coast this month.

He told Lancashire Live: ‘I’ve not spoke to Owen personally on it, but as a club we’re happy that he’s getting game time down there and he’s playing and he seems to be happy enough.

‘We brought a couple of players in that area of the pitch anyway, so it’s not really an area of the pitch that we are looking to strengthen now that we’ve brought in Morgan and Josh.’

Interim boss Simon Bassey recently admitted he was hopeful Dale would stay put at Fratton Park to see out his current agreement.

He also claimed the Blues’ other loanees, Joe Pigott and Dane Scarlett, would also remain for the duration of the campaign.

That’s after Josh Griffiths was recalled by West Brom last week, before Pompey cut short Josh Koroma’s deal from Huddersfield.