Hartlepool United captain Ryan Donaldson ruled out of Barnet clash on BT Sport with Nicky Featherstone back in contention

The midfielder has missed Pools’ last four matches due to a medial ligament injury picked up last month.

After making the journey down with the squad for Tuesday night’s goalless draw at Wrexham, Featherstone has been back in full training and could be available to feature against The Bees on Saturday.

But Hartlepool manager Dave Challinor insists he won’t be taking any unnecessary risks with plenty of depth in the central midfield positions at the moment.

One player who is almost certain to miss out is Ryan Donaldson. The Pools skipper has suffered another plantar fasciitis flare up.

“We’re in good shape,” Challinor said. “A few cuts and bruises from Tuesday night and a few that didn’t train [on Thursday] but will train [Friday].

"Probably the only one from Tuesday who will be out potentially is Ryan Donaldson where he’s had a bit of a flare up with his foot problem. He had an injection and was fine and played the full game last Saturday but he’s having a bit of discomfort there.

"Feaths has trained fully and we’re in a position where we can afford to be a little bit safe.

"We’ll see how he gets on, have a chat with him and if he’s completely right then there’s a potential of him being involved which would be great because he’s massively influential in terms of what we do and how we want to play. If we can get him back great, but we won’t take any risks.”

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