Dave Challinor drops hint about Hartlepool United's final pre-season friendly

Pools are currently looking to confirm a friendly on the weekend of July 31 to wrap up their pre-season campaign.

Dave Challinor’s side have already played Runcorn Linnets and Spennymoor Town so far this month and will be making the short journeys to Gateshead’s International Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off) and Blyth Spartans’ Croft Park on Tuesday (7:30pm kick-off).

Due to work still being carried out on the pitch at Victoria Park ahead of the big kick-off against Crawley Town next month, all of Pools’ friendlies have had to be away this month.

And that remains the case for the friendly the club are looking to play on July 31.

With Pools’ 2020-21 season finishing so late, they were unable to secure any friendlies against higher level opposition.

“We have a couple of options away from home,” Challinor told The Mail. “They have to be away as our pitch isn’t ready yet.

"Whether it’s a local one or a camel ride away is still to be decided. Obviously the players from up here want the local one but I’ll decide where we’ll be going and that may depend on how they do on Saturday and Tuesday!

"As we’ve said with the pre-season, it is what it is, it’s a consequence of our success and while we may have potentially looked at playing in different ways against stronger teams, we haven’t had the opportunity to do that so we’ll have to learn on our feet and develop as the season progresses."

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