Hartlepool United boss Darren Sarll refused to be drawn on a potential deal for goalkeeper Adam Smith.

Having been given half an hour in each of the last two games, the 31-year-old played the first 60 minutes of Tuesday night's 2-1 win over National League North side Scunthorpe, producing one superb point blank save to thwart Will Evans.

Sarll knows Smith, who has spent the last two seasons at Morecambe, well having worked with him while the pair were at Yeovil.

The two men grew close during their time in Somerset, particularly following the tragic suicide of Glovers captain Lee Collins, who was just 32 when he died.

Smith, who played under Sarll at Yeovil, has now featured three times for Pools since arriving on trial. Picture by Frank Reid.

placeholder image — Smith, who played under Sarll at Yeovil, has now featured three times for Pools since arriving on trial. Picture by Frank Reid.

Given their relationship, Smith's experience and Hartlepool's need for a goalkeeper - the embattled Joel Dixon, who kept just one clean sheet in 26 games during a torrid first season in the North East, remains Sarll's only option - a deal for the former Northampton, Bristol Rovers and Forest Green stopper seems to make a lot of sense.

However, Sarll poured cold water on the idea last week when he suggested that Smith was with Pools purely to help out while building up some fitness ahead of the new season.

Speaking after the midweek win over Scunthorpe, Hartlepool's penultimate pre-season game, Sarll refused to give too much of an indication as to whether things might have changed and suggested that any potential deals are also dependent on the opinions of Lennie Lawrence, Joe Monks, Ronnie Moore and the board.

"All of these things are group discussions," he told BBC Radio Tees Sport.

"It's not Championship Manager. It's quite a thorough process, especially here.

"We've got a lot of good people, we've got Lennie, Ronnie, Joe and the board.

"He trained so hard with us, he got 30 minutes in the last two games, I just thought that the right thing to do from a human perspective was to give him a bit longer."