Hartlepool United injury status: Keith Curle comments on ex-Newcastle United, Kilmarnock and Rangers stars

Sterry has suffered an injury plagued campaign so far which has limited him to just 13 appearances in all competitions.

The former Newcastle United defender picked up a groin problem which kept him out of pre-season before suffering a back injury in September.

The defender returned to the side in the defeat at Harrogate Town in October before a calf injury would see him sidelined for over seven weeks.

The 27-year-old made his long-awaited return and excelled in the 2-0 win over Crawley Town before keeping up his momentum in the game with Rochdale on Boxing Day.

Sterry kept his starting spot for the visit of Mansfield but would last just over an hour before being taken off with what manager Keith Curle described as groin and back issues.

And with Hartlepool in FA Cup action before a huge clash with bottom-of-the-table Gillingham, the temptation may be to allow Sterry an extra week to recover.

“I’ll be governed by Jamie,” Curle told The Mail.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for the lad as a player and he understands his body better than anybody else.

“He’s come in and put in two good shifts, more than what was expected when banging out two 90’s. The close proximity of the games probably caught up with him but we have to be respectful of that.”

Speaking after the defeat to Mansfield Curle said of the injury: “He came off with a groin problem and a sore back so we’ll assess it.

“Jamie has come back and he’s played two 90’s - ideally we were looking for a 60 and an 80 but he’s given us two 90’s.

“It might have been a game too much but Jamie understands his body so we’ll listen to Jamie and we’ll assess it.”

Meanwhile, Curle has provided an update on missing forward duo Mikael Ndjoli and Jake Hastie with both absent through illness.

Ndjoli has been out of favour for some time now under Curle having not featured since October’s 2-0 defeat to Salford City.

Hastie, however, has been involved in several match day squads but was absent from the 3-3 draw with Harrogate Town on New Year’s Day.

“He’s ill,” Curle said of Ndjoli.

“He finished training on Christmas Eve and was then heard to be throwing up in the toilet, so presumably a sickness bug.

“He drove back down to London and then he’s picked up a virus when he’s been down there. So we’ll be having conversations with Mika probably after the days off.

“Hastie pulled out of the game on Thursday [against Mansfield]. He came out and done the warm up and it wiped him out and said ‘I'm not going to be any good to you’ so it was a case of ‘get yourself home.’

The pair join Euan Murray and Kyle Letheren who have also been dealing with illness during the festive period.