Hartlepool United defender Jay Benn "making good progress" as he edges towards return from injury
Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson says Jay Benn is making "good progress" as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury.
The 24-year-old missed both of the games over the bank holiday weekend after pulling up with a hamstring complaint 19 minutes into the midweek win over Altrincham. Although Pools do have another natural wing-back in Louis Stephenson, Grayson experimented with both Jermaine Francis and Reiss McNally lining up in the role over the weekend. While Francis impressed filling in for the final 70 minutes at Altrincham and again during Saturday's thumping win over strugglers Woking, scoring his first Pools goal with a superb header, McNally found things difficult against Southend on Monday.
Benn, who was a regular in the Solihull Moors side that reached the National League play-offs in the 2023/24 season and was part of the Bradford squad that won promotion to League One last term, has made a strong start to his Pools career after sealing a summer move from Lincoln. The energetic defender has impressed Pools fans with his determination to get up and down the right flank and was one of the outstanding performers in the opening weeks of the season. So, while Pools do have other options in his position, Simon Grayson admits he's hoping to have Benn back in contention "sooner rather than later".
"He's making good progress," he told The Red Radio.