Hartlepool United manager Darren Sarll hopeful injuries to Dan Dodds and Luke Charman aren't too serious

Dodds, who played his first competitive game in 351 days at Yeovil last weekend, missed Saturday's visit of Southend.

Supporters speculated that Dodds might have sustained an injury after experienced full-back Kieron Freeman was signed on Friday.

Given that the 23-year-old missed the best part of a year after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament last August, fans could be forgiven for fearing the worst whenever Dodds misses out.

However, Sarll assuaged their fears by confirming that the defender missed the weekend's stalemate with an entirely unrelated injury.

Dodds sustained a hamstring injury in training on Thursday afternoon - bearing in mind he has missed almost 12 months, it's little surprise that he's more susceptible to strains and niggles as he reaches the final phase of his rehabilitation - but Sarll is confident he will not be sidelined for long.

"He just nipped his hamstring in the Thursday session," he said.

"We trained quite late on the Thursday, we trained in the afternoon.

"I don't think it's anything really severe, it's nothing to do with his knee.

"We're not at the stage of the season where risk outweighs reward.

"It's important that we do the right thing - he's had a terrific pre-season, he started the season beautifully last week.

"We're just cautious - I think seven to 10 days, two weeks at worst.

"It just comes at a time when we've got four games in nine days.

"That might be a blessing, Dan might not have been able to endure that amount of game time so early on in his return.

"He's fine, no one needs to panic, these things do happen in football."

Luke Charman, meanwhile, was forced off 15 minutes into Saturday's game.

The versatile attacker endured a frustrating pre-season but was deemed fit enough to start at Yeovil and enjoyed an impressive competitive debut.

He made a lively start at the weekend but was on the receiving end of a strong challenge by Southend's Cav Miley as he looked to lead a counter-attack.

Following treatment, Charman attempted to continue but hobbled off after another robust tackle, this time by defender Harry Taylor.

Like Dodds, Charman's injury does not appear to be a repeat of a previous ailment and, while the 26-year-old's prognosis should become clearer in the coming days, Sarll does not expect it to be a long-term issue.

He said: "Luke's sore.

"I think he's rolled his ankle or twisted his ankle.

"There's been pressure on his ankle and the rest of the leg may have been going in a different direction. That's a sore one.

"Tuesday, no chance, Saturday, flip of a coin.

"I'm a big fan of Luke Charman, I think he is going to be some player for us.

"The power and pace he's got - in the incident where he got the injury, he took off like a rocket ship.

"He's a good chap and we want him fit, available and ready to play."