Hartlepool United confirm Richie Bennett recall to Stockport County

The 30-year-old striker scored five goals in two starts and two substitute appearances for Pools since arriving on loan from National League promotion rivals Stockport County at the start of April.

As confirmed in The Mail, The Hatters have triggered their recall clause which came into effect this week.

A Pools club statement read: “Pools signed the forward on loan till the end of the season but Stockport had a call back clause after 28 days in his contract.

“Bennett signed on April 1st and went on to score five goals in four games including a hat-trick in his last game against Wealdstone. The club thanks Richie for all his hard work and effort in a Pools shirt.”

Previously, Hartlepool manager Dave Challinor told The Mail: “Richie will be going back to Stockport which is what we expected.

“When we did the loan signing originally, we pretty much thought that it would be the case and it would be short term.

"At the time, we were looking at the strikers we had and knowing that was going to be the case. It’s worked well for us and we got out of it what we needed to. He’ll go back to Stockport, I’m not sure what their plans are with him."

Preempting Bennett’s recall, Pools signed strikers Danny Elliott and Harvey Saunders to help bolster their attacking line alongside Luke Armstrong and Rhys Oates.

Hartlepool currently sit third in the National League table with six games remaining. They face sixth placed Chesterfield live on BT Sport on Saturday night (5:20pm kick-off).

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