Dave Challinor drops further hint on Tom White's future at Hartlepool United with loan from Blackburn Rovers expired

The 23-year-old midfielder joined Pools from the Championship outfit last month on a 28-day loan deal which was expected to be extended until the end of the season once the National League season got the green light to continue.

It’s now been three weeks since confirmation of the fifth tier playing on for the remainder of the season yet White remains in limbo at Hartlepool. He is still at the club, training and travelling to matches but isn’t eligible to play until the club come to an extension agreement with his parent club Blackburn.

Following a number of recent injuries, manager Dave Challinor is looking to carefully manage his budget and bolster his squad before the player registration deadline on March 25.

As a result, White’s extension remains on hold for the time being while Challinor remains optimistic.

"I’m hopeful we can get something done,” said the Pools boss. “It’s really frustrating for him because he knows that I want him here and he’s been training and travelling with us because he wants to support the lads.

"I’ve got to manage a budget and there are other things potentially we’d like to bring in.”

White is out of contract in the summer and has previously stated his desire to stay at Victoria Park beyond the current campaign.

Loan extension issues aside, Challinor dropped a clear hint on his plan to tie down the midfielder on a permanent basis.

“I hope he’ll be with us for the rest of the season and not just in the short term but the medium to long-term for us as well,” he added.

“[Extending the loan] is down to us but we’re desperate to keep him with us and hopefully we’ll see some flexibility from both sides in terms of what we want to do.

"We’re getting to a point where our registration deadline is still the 25th March as it stands and we can’t sign anyone after that.

"We’re two weeks away from that so we’ve got to make sure we have all our bases covered in all areas of the pitch and Tom understands that. Hopefully something will be sorted which suits everyone.”

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