Hartlepool United remain cautious over long-term injury returnees as busy schedule continues against Bromley

Hartlepool have been boosted since their return to action earlier this month with midfield duo Cooke and Wallace back in the fold and both players contributing to a slight upturn in form for John Askey’s side.

Cooke made his return from ankle ligament damage as a substitute in the 2-2 draw with Ebbsfleet United before both he and Wallace were then handed their first starts since September as they contributed immensely to the impressive 3-1 win over York City before continuing in the side at Kidderminster in midweek.

But with Hartlepool set to face their third game in a week when they host third-placed Bromley, Askey made have to consider the fitness of players such as Cooke and Wallace so as to avoid any reoccurring injury problems. One way around that, however, will be for Pools to manage the workload of those players throughout the week to ensure they remain at a manageable level of fitness on a match day.

"It’s a consideration and a concern,” Hartlepool’s first team coach Antony Sweeney told BBC Radio Tees when asked about fitness issues of returning players.

"The players who have been out are important to us, it’s no secret that we want them back, but not at the expense of losing them for the longer term. So Callum Cooke, for example, has come back in the last couple of games and I think we’ve seen a real influence that he’s had on the team and the performance and things like that.

"He’s going to need to play the games when he’s fit, so it might be a case of managing him Monday to Friday and then playing the games on the Saturday and hopefully that keeps him available for the games. We’ll manage his workload. We’ve got staff in place and we’ve got the GPS equipment that will give us an indication of where we need to highlight back or step it up.”

With that, both Cooke and Wallace are likely to feature against Bromley as Hartlepool search for improvements at Victoria Park having won just one of their last seven games on home soil in all competitions. But Askey is still set to be without wing-back Charlie Seaman, and vice-captain Matt Dolan, who have only just returned to light training due to injury.

"They’ve been integrated back into the grass-based sessions,” said Sweeney.

"It’s not always completing the full session, that’s prescribed, not them dropping out. It’s down to us managing the load and making sure that we do everything we possibly can to make sure when they do return to training and playing in full that they don’t break down again, but they’re back with the group.

"Whether or not Saturday comes too soon that will be down to the manager but it’s nice to have more numbers and more options – it becomes a little bit more difficult for the manager to pick his squad, Tuesday being an example where Kieran Burton came on against York and did really well but found himself out of the squad. That’s the harsh reality of the National League where you’re only allowed five subs. You’re limited to your options.”