New Hartlepool United striker reveals why he joined Pools

The 21-year-old striker has joined Ronnie Moore's squad for an intense four-week spell of fixtures, moving north from League Two rivals Bristol Rovers.

And he has revealed it was former Pools forward Andy Monkhouse that convinced him to move to the North East on a month's loan.

The pair played together last season and even though Monkhouse moved to Grimsby Town during the summer, the pair remain close.

Harrison - who came off the bench to score a late winner in Rovers’ 2-1 triumph at Oxford United on Sunday - is now looking forward to making his Pools debut away at Accrington Stanley on Tuesday night, weather permitting.

"It's games that I have come for," said Harrison, who has scored seven goals this season for Rovers.

"Even if I had scored a hat-trick for Bristol Rovers on Sunday I was still going to be coming to Hartlepool to play games.

"I am 21 now and I broke through really early at 17 but didn’t really play the next season so to get games now is really important to me.

"Last season I didn’t start off too well and didn’t get a sniff early on but I finally broke through and scored a lot of goals and I started this season quite well.

"But I went away with Wales a few times and I think it killed my flow at club level so now I really need to get back in to things.

"For anyone my age, getting games is the most important thing and if you’re sat in the cold watching games then you aren’t learning so coming to a club like Hartlepool is great for me."

Harrison is highly-rated at Rovers, managed by ex-Pools midfielder Darrell Clarke, and the powerful Welshman admits the packed programme of games was a another big factor in him joining.

He added: "One of the reasons I came here was the amount of games I could be involved in and I know that Hartlepool are a good team having played against them over the years.

"It’s a good set-up here and a good club so coming here is brilliant."

And he is hoping to emulate some of the success his close friend Monkhouse enjoyed during his eight years at the club.

Monkhouse made 331 appearances for the club between 2006 and 2014.

"I spoke to Andy and, to be honest, he was one of the main factors in me coming here," Harrison told the club's website.

"He bigged up the club so well to me and told he how much he had loved it here and said that I would as well – and I trust everything he says.

"Monks really looked after me at Bristol last year; the year before I was in a bit of a pickle but when he came in he was just so good with me and put me on the right path – I've not looked back since."