Dave Challinor laments 'finger-pointing' culture at Hartlepool United as he looks to get former Middlesbrough midfielder Luke Williams back playing after injury scare

It's been six weeks since the side’s last National League win and over three weeks since they scored a goal.

On top of that, manager Dave Challinor has had to contend with mounting injury concerns with midfielder Luke Williams lasting just over quarter of an hour at Eastleigh in what was his first competitive start in over three years.

As a result, Challinor and his players have become the subject of some criticism from sections of the Pools fanbase.

While the Hartlepool manager admits things need to improve, he wants to see less finger-pointing and protect players such as Williams.

"I’ll take the blame if people want to blame people, don’t blame the players,” Challinor said.

"I think that’s what it tends to be around here, trying to point fingers and seeing who’s at fault. As manager, I’ll take the blame for things that go wrong, I’m big enough and some would say old enough to be able to take it.”

Challinor has confirmed Williams is physically ‘okay’ following Saturday's injury scare at Eastleigh but he will continue to be careful with the midfielder as he hopes to get him back playing on a more regular basis.

But the Pools boss feels that there are still some mental hurdles to overcome for the 27-year-old before throwing him back into the starting line-up.

“Luke Will be fine and we've got to try and come up with a plan that allows us to get him on the pitch trusting himself and his body,” he added.

“That might be a process that takes a little bit of time. We need to look after him, make sure he’s right and get him back out there as quickly as possible.

“It’s always been the case with Luke that we have to approach things differently to what we probably would with any other player.

"From our perspective, we’ve been really careful with him in terms of what he’s done but he’s been training fully. He was more gutted than anyone and his reaction said that when he went off at Eastleigh."

Challinor insists no risks were taken in starting Williams at The Silverlake Stadium as Pools have been meticulous in managing the midfielder over the past year.

"We know we have to be careful with him and there will be question marks over whether he can physically produce what we want from a player in that position.

"Technically, his quality is undoubted but as well as physical barriers, there are also big psychological barriers he has to get past.

"If you look at him in isolation, he’s essentially done a 12-month rehab to get where he is so we’re going to give him every opportunity.

"He has our full backing and he’s massively liked in the dressing room as a person and everyone wants him to do well. Hopefully that will be the case, though we can’t guarantee it, but we’ll do everything we can to get him back onto the football pitch and show the supporters what he is as a player.”

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