Hartlepool United name unchanged team for visit of rivals Gateshead

Pools are bidding to record back-to-back victories for just the third time this season having beaten Altrincham 1-0 on Saturday, the first home game since American businessman and investor Landon Smith completed his takeover of the club.

Nick Hayes, who kept a clean sheet on his debut at the weekend after completing a permanent move from play-off chasing Southend, continues in goal behind a back four of Reiss McNally, Maxim Kouogun, skipper Tom Parkes and Jay Benn, who impressed in an unfamiliar left-back role on Saturday in the absence of the suspended Cameron John.

Nathan Sheron, set to start his 28th National League game in succession this season, lines up alongside Jack Hunter in midfield. Ahead of them, former Gateshead attacker Adam Campbell and Luke Charman are likely to flank Jamie Miley. Alex Reid, who ended a run of six games without a goal with a match-winning penalty at the weekend, leads the line once again.

Sam Folarin, who impressed from the bench on Saturday having been handed his first Pools appearance since September, has to be content with a place among the substitutes. The 25-year-old is joined by York loanee Ashley Nathaniel-George, who missed the last two games through injury.

Gateshead, meanwhile, have made two changes as they look to end a run of 13 successive defeats - the worst run in the club's entire history. Frontman Mark Beck, who was heavily linked with a move to Victoria Park in the summer of 2024, and former Middlesbrough man Fenton John are both set to start under new boss Rob Elliot, who returned for a second spell in charge earlier this month. David Ferguson, who made 235 appearances for Pools and was an integral part of the side that won a memorable promotion back to the Football League in 2021, skippers the Heed on his first return to Victoria Park since his June departure.

Pools (4-2-3-1): Hayes; McNally, Kouogun, Parkes (c), Benn; Hunter, Sheron; Campbell, Miley, Charman; Reid