Hartlepool United star Josh Umerah provides encouraging fitness update after 'frustrating' Northampton Town draw

Umerah featured for the first time under new manager John Askey and scored his 14th goal of the season to mark the occasion in the 1-1 draw with Northampton Town.

Umerah kept his cool, despite suggestions of an offside against him from the Northampton defence, before stroking the ball into the bottom corner to beat Lee Burge from the edge of the area to give Hartlepool a first half lead.

It was Umerah’s first goal since notching in the 3-1 defeat to Carlisle United in January - a month which saw him named the PFA fans' player of the month, having endured a difficult February on the back of that award.

Umerah went six games without a goal as he struggled with a niggling knee injury, as well as illness, before making his return for Askey against the Cobblers.

But after grabbing his 11th league goal of the season, as Pools added another point to their tally in the battle against relegation, Umerah believes he is now back to feeling fully fit ahead of the crucial run-in with just 10 games of the season remaining.

“It’s been a bit stop-start but it’s about getting myself back to feeling 100 per cent which is what I feel now,” said Umerah.

“It’s been frustrating. I want to play, even through illness and through injury, but sometimes it’s not quite possible.

“I just needed to take a step back from football and to heal my body up and get right again which is what’s happened and I’m back to being 100 per cent.

“I’m feeling fit. It was just about getting the swelling down [on my knee] and that’s down now so I should be okay.”

Despite a successful return to the starting line-up personally, Umerah and his team-mates were left frustrated at full-time after seeing three points snatched away from them in the final 10 minutes of the game following Sam Hoskins’ equaliser.

It was a goal which means Hartlepool are without a win since early February having drawn five of their last seven League Two games with the gap to Crawley Town narrowing after their win over Harrogate Town.

“I’m delighted to be back out there helping the team first and foremost and obviously getting a goal,” said Umerah.

“It would have been better if we got three points but it slipped out of our hands so we can only put that right next week.

He added: “It’s very frustrating given the fact it was in the last 10 minutes of the game and I feel like we could have seen it out. But this is football, this is what happens.

“We expected them to come out firing on all cylinders in the second half which is what they did.

“We nearly had them, but it was unfortunate the way they scored, and the manner they scored, but this is football so we’ve got to move forward.”