Hartlepool United welcome Sunderland in final pre-season friendly

John Askey will get one more look at his Hartlepool players in action before they make the trip to Barnet this weekend to begin the new league season.

Pools welcome Championship opposition in the shape of Tony Mowbray’s Black Cats after hosting League Two side Harrogate Town last week.

Askey’s side slipped to their first defeat in pre-season against the Sulphurites and will be looking to end their preparations on a high against what is likely to be a much-changed Sunderland side following their 1-1 draw with La Liga side Mallorca at the weekend.

Pools, too, could shake things up at the Suit Direct Stadium so as to avoid any injuries heading into the season opener.

First team coach Antony Sweeney said: "It’s difficult for both teams, we both start our season so we’re going to have to assess what the damage was [against Harrogate] – I don’t think there is much damage in terms of players, you might feel a little bit of stiffness in the early part.

"We’ll see who needs the minutes and decide who is likely to be starting against Barnet and come up with a formula where it suits all of those scenarios.

"We need our strongest XI that we possibly can to start the game at Barnet, but we also need to put out a team who is going to be competitive against a really good Championship side, regardless of whether they make changes and play some 21s.”