Hartlepool United head coach Anthony Limbrick believes it is "only a matter of time" before midfielder Jamie Miley breaks into the Pools side.

The 21-year-old, who signed on a permanent deal from Premier League Newcastle last month, has yet to play a single minute since Limbrick replaced veteran manager Lennie Lawrence. Miley's arrival was met with considerable fanfare and the young midfielder made a perfect start to his Pools career, scoring a 96th minute equaliser on his debut against Braintree. However, Miley has been an unused substitute in the two matches since then.

Miley, who made eight appearances for League Two strugglers Newport County in the first half of the campaign, faces considerable competition for places in the Pools midfield. The club currently have six central-midfielders on their books, albeit Kieran Wallace has recently headed out to join National League North side Peterborough Sports on loan as is almost certain to leave this summer. Greg Sloggett, who has struggled for large parts of this season, was omitted from the squad for Tuesday's game with Tamworth, while Jack Hunter has been deployed in defence since Limbrick took charge. Of the first choice pair, Nathan Sheron has started all 34 matches this term while Nicky Featherstone, who will turn 37 in September, has been a regular but will need his minutes to be carefully managed. With that in mind, Miley could well be in line for his first start this weekend when Pools host relegation-threatened Maidenhead and Limbrick admits the former Newcastle man's chance will come.

"He's been unfortunate," he said.

Young midfielder Jamie Miley, who signed from Newcastle last month, has been an unused substitute in the last two matches since scoring a 96th minute equaliser on his debut against Braintree. Picture by Frank Reid.

placeholder image — Young midfielder Jamie Miley, who signed from Newcastle last month, has been an unused substitute in the last two matches since scoring a 96th minute equaliser on his debut against Braintree. Picture by Frank Reid.

"His quality in training has been excellent, he's clearly a good player, he's hungry to do well. He wants to play, and I think it's only a matter of time before he does play. Since he came on at Braintree and scored, the plan was probably to bring him on at Sutton and to bring him on during Tuesday night's game. We didn't, for various reasons, and he's been really unfortunate.

"He'll play a lot for us and I really admire him as a player, he's just a good, technical footballer. He gives us something different to the other midfielders that we've got. I'm looking forward to seeing him very, very soon."