Hartlepool United player watch: Josh Umerah's first start against Lincoln City

After weeks of negotiations, Paul Hartley was able to bolster his attacking ranks with the acquisition of 25-year-old Umerah for an undisclosed fee from Wealdstone.

And Umerah was thrown straight into the action for Pools, completing 90 minutes against League One opposition in Lincoln.

Hartley has highlighted the need for options in the attacking third for Pools and Umerah’s first performance in blue and white suggests he can certainly bring something to the table in that regard.

Umerah led the Pools attack with Jake Hastie and Joe Grey flanking, as Tom Crawford occupied the space in behind the new No.9.

And immediately it felt as though there was a presence up front.

From the off, Umerah occupied space in the area as full-back Reghan Tumilty saw his cross graze the bar.

Umerah’s well-timed run moments later dragged defender Adam Jackson away from the central space which allowed Hastie to advance further in-field before unleashing a fizzing effort at goal which goalkeeper Carl Rushworth held well.

And Umerah almost capped a fine start to his Pools tenure when making another intelligent run into the half-space on the right, again allowing Hastie in-field, before the ex-Rangers winger played a clever reverse pass into Umerah’s path.

The striker had the pace to advance on goal and from an angle he forced Rushworth into a smart save low to his right.

It was a bright start from Hartley’s new focal point in attack and he continued to display the attributes which show why Hartley has monitored the 25-year-old since his arrival in June.

In ex-Pools defender Jackson, Umerah had plenty to deal with in someone who has experience at a higher level.

But Umerah gave as good as he got with a number of physical altercations throughout the game - altercations he enjoyed a fair amount of success in when winning a number of freekicks for his team.

Midway through the first half, goalkeeper Ben Killip sent a long ball forward to Umerah who brought it down from his chest with fine control at the first time of asking to start Pools off on another attack.

And whenever Umerah dropped deeper to hold the ball up, it allowed the likes of Hastie, Grey and Crawford to advance beyond him, affording Pools numbers in attack.

In the closing stages of the half, Umerah showed his strength when receiving the ball inside the penalty area where he was able to again hold off Jackson before rolling the Imps defender for a strike at goal. Unfortunately for Umerah, he saw his effort well blocked by the covering defender on two occasions.

Although he tired a little after the break, Umerah continued to make sensible runs into those half-spaces of the pitch between full-back and centre-back which helped his teammates occupy space.

While he never found the back of the net, there were some positive signs from Pools’ new No.9 and plenty to build on over the coming weeks as he continues to integrate into Hartley’s squad.

Umerah says he craves scoring goals, but the value in his ability to fit Hartley’s system is just as important.