Raj Singh and Craig Hignett in stands for Pools trip to Fylde plus team news

And joining Singh as part of his entourage is former manager Craig Hignett.

The duo are taking the game in as Singh's bid to take over at Victoria Park gathers pace.

Yesterday the club issued a statement claiming that talks were heading in the right direction.

It read: "We are making good progress with takeover talks.

"However, as much of the process is confidential, we are unable to make any further comment at this time."

While the presence of Singh is a surprise, the fact he is joined by Hignett opens up his potential thinking on the managerial front, should he manage to wrestle control from John Blackledge.

Meanwhile, on the team news front, Bates makes just the one enforced change.

Louis Laing comes in for the suspended Scott Harrison.

Elsewhere, Jack Munns returns to the bench.

Pools XI: Scott Loach, Carl Magnay, Louis Laing, Liam Donnelly, Blair Adams, Nicky Featherstone, Conor Newton, Lewis Hawkins, Michael Woods, Jake Cassidy, Rhys Oates.

Subs: Ryan Catterick, Jacob Owen, Jack Munns, Josh Hawkes, Devante Rodney.