Graeme Lee gives Hartlepool United contract admission and provides an injury update on former Southport striker

Lee has been locked in discussions with a number of his players in recent weeks, including star striker Luke Molyneux, as he looks to build for next season with Pools set to retain their Football League status.

But negotiations have been ongoing and Lee admits discussions have dragged on longer than he would have hoped for at this stage although he remains hopeful that there could be some positive news to come.

“Hopefully there might be one or two who we've had chats with and then I’ll be assessing [the rest of the squad],” said Lee.

“I’ve got a squad of players here at the moment and I'm going to start going through them.

“There were four or five who I wanted to try and do earlier which have dragged on a lot longer than I would have liked then there’ll be a few more I’ll want to speak to.”

It comes after Lee recently revealed potential concerns with players whose deals expire in the summer and the possibility of them having their head turned by interested clubs.

“Teams are looking at our players because of where we are and what they’ve done last season moving up in the league and then performing again in this league,” said Lee.

“Obviously if there are other teams from higher leagues coming in, these lads are going to get their heads turned a little bit.”

Meanwhile, Lee has provided an update on Pools striker Marcus Carver after the striker missed Tuesday’s draw with Mansfield Town.

“He was ill. I think he must have slept with Ben Killip the other night. He had the same symptoms; the hot and cold sweats,” Lee told The Mail.

“We don’t want anyone around the lads like that. We’ve got 18 or 19 lads in the squad at the moment so we’ll just give him a couple of days out of the building and hopefully he’ll be back in training on Thursday.”

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Hartlepool United coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor.