Bradford City boss reveals injury concern ahead of Hartlepool United trip

One player likely to miss out is Alex Gilliead with an ankle injury.

Pools host Bradford at the Suit Direct Stadium 7.45pm on Tuesday.

Ahead of the game, Hughes said: “We’ve got a couple of concerns that might resolve themselves or not. But we’ve got good numbers now and if players miss out, we can fill the void.

“Alex has opened up his ankle joint. He’s probably been carrying it for a few weeks and got a bang on it just before the game.

“It’s a bit of concern but if he is to miss out, he should be okay for the weekend. It’s not a long-term thing.

“The group is getting bigger. It’s important that we do get those numbers,” he told the Telegraph and Argus.

Pools head into the game on the back of the goalless draw with Leyton Orient at the weekend.

“It was flat, flat all over,” said Graeme Lee on Saturday post-match, who wants to see a big improvement in performance.

“I’m disappointed because it was an opportunity. I felt as though we had two home games on the bounce where we could go and get six points on the board and see where this season takes us.

“If you look on reflection from Wednesday night, it was the worry going into the game. Am I going to get the reaction or are we going to get a little bit of a disappointed reaction from the result of the other night?

“I was looking for a response in the sense of, forget the disappointment of the result on Wednesday, lets go again and unfortunately I got the other side which I worried about.

“We just lacked energy, we lacked drive. We were reactive instead of anticipating things. We didn't pick the second balls, we didn't hurt them enough, we didn't create enough.

“It was just one of them performances and it just wasn't an enjoyable game to watch and to be a part of,” he added.

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