Hartlepool United to face nervous wait over star-striker after Stoke City defeat

Curle continued with a strong starting line-up in the FA Cup for the visit of Championship side Stoke and will now be left sweating over the fitness of star striker Umerah ahead of their trip to League Two’s bottom club Gillingham next weekend after he was taken off and went straight down the tunnel in the 3-0 defeat to the Potters.

Hartlepool struggled to make any inroads on Alex Neil’s side who held a two goal advantage at the break thanks to Euan Murray’s own goal and Jacob Brown’s strike two minutes from the interval.

Stoke ended the game as a contest within minutes of the restart when Rollin Menayese then turned into his own net from Harrison Clarke’s cross as Pools were denied a potential home tie in the fourth round.

But more worryingly for Curle was the exit of Umerah who was taken off less than 10 minutes into the second half and headed straight down the tunnel.

“It looked like a bit of a hamstring problem. Hopefully we can assess Josh and report back on Monday,” said Curle.

“I don’t think he’s injured to be honest, he started cramping up. It’s wet and boggy out there, it was heavy, so I think we did the right thing by taking him off.”

He added: “I’d expect him to be back.

“We’ve upped Josh’s workload in training because one of the things we’ve identified is; I think he needs to cover more distance. He’s been doing that and has understood what we need from him.

“He’s been pounding the grass and I think he just felt a little bit of cramp today which, when you suddenly up your workload you’re going to get cramp. But we took him off at the right time hopefully and he’ll be assessed.

“If it had been 0-0 Josh would have stayed on. You’re 3-0 down playing against a Championship football club and in your mind you’re going to put three academy players on so you’re thinking; do I need to risk Josh? We’ve got a massive game next week.”