Hartlepool United loanee Reyes Cleary discusses rebuilding his confidence at Pools following difficult spell with Walsall

This campaign is a particularly important one for the youngster, who is out of contract at parent club West Bromwich Albion in the summer and is determined to do enough to earn a new deal at The Hawthorns. Having impressed for the Baggies in the Premier League 2, scoring 19 goals in the 2022/23 season and making a handful of appearances for the first team, Cleary headed to the Bescot Stadium last August with the aim of getting more senior minutes under his belt. However, he found things tough going during a frustrating five-month stint with the Saddlers where he was reduced to just seven substitute appearances. With Walsall making a fast start to the season, Cleary found it difficult to break into Mat Sadler's side and had his loan cut short after failing to start a single game in League Two.

Cleary returned to West Brom, working closely with the likes of loan manager Chris Brunt, who he hailed as one of the biggest influences on his fledgling career, and former Jamaica international Deon Burton, who is now the under-23s boss at The Hawthorns. When the chance to move to Pools, who were in need of some attacking reinforcements following injuries to Joe Grey and Anthony Mancini, came up, Cleary jumped at it.

And the talented 20-year-old certainly hasn't looked back since, scoring once in eight matches in the North East and impressing with his pace, power and skill. While the winger might be frustrated not to have scored more goals having hit the woodwork three times and missed a gilt-edged chance in last weekend's defeat to relegation-threatened Aldershot, he's been one of the bright spots during a challenging couple of months at the Prestige Group Stadium. After agreeing to extend his stay until the end of the season on Wednesday, Cleary admits his time at Pools so far has helped him rebuild his dented confidence following a difficult spell at Walsall.

"I think my time at Walsall knocked my confidence a little bit," he said.

"Being here at Hartlepool has been brilliant, I feel that connection with the fans and the manager has shown a lot of faith in me.

"I worked really hard at Walsall, but their results at the time were brilliant. If a winning team keeps on winning, you aren't going to change it. I had no problem with that.

"When I went back to West Brom I decided to play a few Premier League 2 games to get my confidence back. Then I was ready to get going again and the move to Hartlepool came up at the perfect time, I feel like it's been a really important learning curve for me."