Hartlepool United captain Nicky Featherstone opens up on his Pools return amid his contract and Mo Sylla uncertainty

Since the arrival of John Askey, Featherstone has found himself out of the starting line-up at the Suit Direct Stadium - something which has, perhaps, been even more unsettling for the 34-year-old given that he is out of contract in the summer.

Having trained well at the club's recent open training session, and posed for pictures and signed autographs, heading into the Easter weekend, with Hartlepool on something of a roll under Askey, Featherstone had anticipated another seat on the bench when heading to Grimsby Town on Good Friday.

But that all changed within 24-hours of the trip to Blundell Park following an issue with French midfielder Mohamad Sylla, who had been the one to displace Featherstone in Askey’s line-ups.

Askey confessed to Sylla not being in the right frame of mind to play for the club, something which is sure to have been made aware of to the players as they took on board their final preparations.

Featherstone reached out to first team coach Antony Sweeney, late on eve of the game with Grimsby, to establish what Sylla’s situation meant for him, with the upshot being he was back in the fold.

Featherstone started and produced an excellent performance in the sitting midfield role as Askey’s side, in the end, cruised to a 4-1 win over Grimsby to well and truly ignite their survival bid.

“We need people who are going to give us everything and we know with Nicky Featherstone he’s going to give us everything he’s got,” Askey had said on Featherstone’s return.

“Nicky is important to us. Not only is he a good player but he's important in the dressing room as well. He’s a true pro.”

Despite Sylla returning to the Hartlepool squad for the Easter Monday clash with Stevenage, 34-year-old Featherstone was the one handed the starting shirt.

Featherstone repaid his management staff by scoring his first goal of the season, a wonderfully placed, first-time, finish into the bottom corner to earn Pools a point.

But for Featherstone, this period has been about what is best for the team, with the captain revealing he has been happy to be involved as and when Askey sees fit.

“I spoke to the gaffer right from the off and said I just want the team to do well,” Featherstone explained to The Mail.

“I want this club to stay up. If that means me having a different role where I’m coming off the bench or just me being around the place then so be it.

“I’ve been in this situation before at times. Ultimately, I want to play games. But if not, I want to be a positive influence and if that's coming on and helping the team gain control of a game then so be it.

“When Mo Sylla’s not right to play against Grimsby it was about coming in and making sure I’m physically ready to play against Grimsby and just being professional around the place. It’s a different role but it is what it is.

“There was no real time for me to think anything of it to be honest,” Featherstone added on returning at Sylla’s expense.

“I’d text Sweens late that night and asked if Mo was available; he said probably not.

“So it was just about getting my head focused on Grimsby. It’s a nice fixture for me because it’s only 35 minutes from my house. It was an opportunity for me, that’s all I saw it as.”

While the situation regarding Sylla has undoubtedly been a complex one, Featherstone suggests he and the squad are keen to move on, with the focus being fully on the final few games of the season in a bid to get Hartlepool over the line when it comes to preserving their Football League status.

“I think it always pulls people together. I don’t know too much about the situation fully, as in the reasons for it. But it is what it is,” said Featherstone.

“Mo’s back involved now and hopefully we can come together as a squad and move on from that.

“We’re eight games unbeaten, it doesn’t happen often and we’ve played a lot of good teams who are up there.

“But it’s each game as it comes. Let’s go and do enough to stay up.”

And Featherstone certainly played his role in adding to that cause when scoring for a third straight home game against Stevenage, dating back to 2017, to move Hartlepool out of the relegation zone.

“I don’t have social media but I always get told if I’m getting a bit of stick and should be out of the team, so you just feel a little bit emotional at the time,” said Featherstone.

“It’s managed to get us a point in the end and it’s managed to get us out of the bottom two. It’s just a welcome back into the team I suppose.

“There’s always been a belief we could get out of it, even in the worst situation when we were a few points behind, we always felt like we were competing in games and we were able to win games.

“At the minute we seem to have a lot of goals in the team and that will always give you an opportunity.

“It’s massive [to be out of the bottom two]. I think at one point we were one point above Crawley and they had four games in hand so we didn’t know where we stood.

“But the last two or three results have brought us right back into it and they’ve brought other teams into it.

“It just gives us a chance and psychologically [it’s a boost] to get out of that.

“I think it’s important to be ahead of Crawley going into that game, for me personally.

“We’ve given ourselves a real chance. We’re in games and we’re getting results at the minute.”

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