'Big recruitment process' needed at Hartlepool United this summer

And Nelson believes bringing in the right characters is key.

When asked whether the subs bench at the weekend highlighted how much needs to happen between now and next season, Nelson said: "There’s a big recruitment process that needs to be done in the summer, both on and off the pitch.

"We had four players on the bench, three outfield players, and we had two players who were probably 70-75 per cent fit in Gary Liddle and Jamie Sterry.

"Obviously Jamie had to come off in the first half.

"He flagged an issue up this morning and came in to see the physio, did the warm-up and said he was good to go then unfortunately tweaked it and it probably wasn’t fair to leave him on and disrupt his summer or possibly have him not ready for pre-season by leaving him on so we had to make the decision to take him off and bring Reagan on.

"Lids has been carrying a calf issue for 10-14 days.

"He trained part of the session on Thursday and all of the session on Friday and said he was good to go and that he wanted to play.

"That’s the type of character he is. He probably felt, like I would as a player, a little bit of responsibility and accountability for the manager going.

"I’ve always felt like that when I was a player because no matter whether you’ve played one game or 30 games, if a manager gets the sack you’ve played a part in that. I always felt that.

"I’m not blaming the players, I’m saying that’s how I am and that’s why Gary played when he wasn’t fully fit today because of the type of character he is and that’s the type of characters the club needs.

"There will be a recruitment process and you do need to recruit talent and quality but you need to recruit characters.

"You need people who will dig in and go in the trenches with you when times are tough and know that they've got your back and I think that is just as important, if not more, than the talent aspect of it.”