Hartlepool United boss Kevin Phillips warns that his players must return fitter and stronger next season as campaign plagued by injuries nears a close

Hartlepool United manager Kevin Phillips has said that his players will be fitter and stronger next season after criticising their condition this term.

The absence of Chay Cooper, who was ruled out through illness, means the Pools boss has just 16 players, including two goalkeepers and three academy teenagers, to choose from ahead of Saturday's visit of Dagenham & Redbridge.

Pools have been plagued by injuries all season, with key men Dan Dodds and Anthony Mancini missing almost the entire campaign after pulling up within 72 hours of one another in August.

Things haven't improved since then, with the likes of Alex Lacey, Luke Hendrie, Callum Cooke and Josh Umerah all missing a fair chunk of the campaign and Phillips being forced to turn to the youth team to make up the numbers in recent weeks.

While an opportunity for the youngsters is no bad thing, especially at this time in the season, the Pools boss knows he cannot afford to have such a long queue for the treatment table if he is serious about mounting a challenge for promotion next term.

Not only have Pools struggled with injuries, the boss has been critical of his side's fitness levels.

Pools have sometimes slowed down in the second half of games and have won just two midweek matches all season, with the boss criticising his squad for lacking stamina and strength.

Phillips has recently added strength and condition coach Lee Moore to his set-up, with the pair having worked together successfully at South Shields, and it's clear that one of the coaching staff's priorities will be making sure the side are much fitter next season.

And the Pools boss, who has pulled no punches over his side's fitness woe of late, has warned his players he will expect much more of them as he begins to plan for the 2024/25 campaign.

"We're going to work harder, it's as simple as that," he said.

"They'll be more robust, and I think also we need to do our due diligence in terms of looking at the players we're thinking about bringing to the club and their injury records.

"When you bring in loans at the time of the season since I've been here, there's always a risk that they'll break down, because they haven't played for their club and are perhaps just coming back from injury.

"You're hoping to get the best out of them and sometimes it can go well, but other times it can backfire a little bit and that's probably what's happened with us. We've got to learn from that.

"Lee (Moore) is giving them an off-season programme and they'll be expected to come back in ready to go.

"Lee is very strategic in the work that he does in the gym, he's been very surprised by some of the stuff the players have been doing.

"To quote what he said, he told me that in the clinic he runs away from here, his kids were lifting the same weights as some of the players.

"That's not right. They are athletes, professional footballers, so we'll be doing everything right in the gym, the strength and conditioning side of it and the sports science side of it.

"They'll be fitter next year, that's for sure."