Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson reveals reason behind Alex Reid's absence from Pools squad for Tamworth clash
Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson has revealed that striker Alex Reid has sustained a hamstring injury.
The 30-year-old, who signed for Pools in the summer having been released by Oldham at the end of last season, started all of the first 11 games of the new campaign but dropped out of the squad for Saturday's draw with Tamworth. Reid has endured a mixed start to the season, scoring three goals in 11 appearances. All of those three goals came in the opening four matches, with the frontman finding the net in three successive games as Pools made a strong start to the new campaign. Since then, however, things have proven more difficult, both for Reid and Pools, who have dropped out of the play-off places following an indifferent recent run of results. Reid, meanwhile, who is under pressure to replace the goals lost by talismanic top-scorer Mani Dieseruvwe after his summer departure to Rochdale, has failed to score in his last seven matches, spurning presentable opportunities against the likes of Aldershot and Gateshead in recent weeks.
While Pools have been rock solid defensively, keeping an impressive seven clean sheets in their first 12 matches, goals have proven harder to come by and their total of 11 so far this term makes them the National League's joint second lowest scorers. Of course, that's not all down to Reid, who scored an impressive 17 times in 32 appearances during a hugely successful loan spell at Wealdstone last season, and the likes of Danny Johnson, who is yet to open his account for his new side, and Matty Daly have struggled to really get going after completing summer moves to Victoria Park. Despite a reasonably positive start to the campaign, there have also been one or two question marks among the fanbase about manager Simon Grayson's approach. Renowned for his pragmatic football, the Pools boss, who has won four promotions in the Football League throughout a long and successful managerial career, likes to build his sides around solid defensive foundations. That certainly looks to be the case at Pools, with all of their six summer defensive additions impressing so far this season, but there are some supporters who are beginning to show signs of frustration at a perceived lack of attacking intent. Indeed, Pools have failed to score in five matches this season, including a challenging run that saw them draw a blank four times in five games, and have not always created as many chances as they might have liked. Certainly, they seem to have goalscorers in their squad, with Reid, a former National League promotion winner with Stockport, boasting a good record at this level and Johnson having scored plenty of goals in the Football League, including a hat-trick against Pools on the opening day of the 2022/23 campaign. There have been times this season when Reid has cut an isolated figure, and Grayson's recent switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation has left the frontman without a strike partner. While it's inevitable that a squad including so many new signings - Michael Dacosta Gonzalez became the 15th new addition of Grayson's tenure when he signed on loan from Bournemouth on Friday - will take some time to gel, Pools will likely need to carry more attacking threat if they're to mount a successful play-off challenge this season.
Whatever the case, Pools will be hoping not to have to do without Reid for too long ahead of a challenging run of games that will sees them travel to Carlisle, always a contest with a bit of an edge, before entertaining a York side who have been in decent form under new manager Stuart Maynard at the weekend. Speaking to The Red Radio, Grayson revealed that Reid has sustained a hamstring injury but remained tight-lipped about the seriousness of it, with the striker set to go for a scan this week.
"He was injured," he said.
"He suffered a slight hamstring injury on Tuesday night against Gateshead. I think he's going for a scan on Monday, and we'll just assess the situation from there."