Corey McKeown made his Hartlepool United debut in a pre-season friendly win at Seaton Carew on Saturday afternoon.

Former Hartlepool United midfielder Tommy Miller believes summer signing Corey McKeown has the talent to succeed at Victoria Park - but warned the Pools new boy he will have to make a strong start to the season.

Miller, who made over 150 appearances over two spells with Pools during his playing career, worked closely with the attacking midfielder during the second half of last season after being named as interim manager of National League North club Spennymoor Town. McKeown was part of the Moors squad that made a late push for the step two play-offs before falling short in the final week of the season - but the 24-year-old will still make the step into the National League after agreeing to join Pools last month.

placeholder image — Mark Fletcher | MI News & Sport

Miller was rewarded for the impact he made during his interim spell with a permanent role and he has revealed he tried to get McKeown tied down on a new contract ahead of the summer - and he has stressed the former Blyth Spartans man has the quality to succeed at his old club and described him as ‘an exciting talent’.

He told The Mail: “It is a big step and Hartlepool United are a big club at that level. They are obviously going to have a right go this season with the number of players coming in and Corey is one of them. Corey was open and honest with us and I was trying to tie him down before the end of the season - but he said he wanted to have a go at full-time football and kept his options open. I would never stand in anyone’s way with that and hopefully he does well at Hartlepool because he certainly has the talent.

“He has got to start the season well, he’s got to get off to a flyer and then the confidence will build and he will push on even more. But when I came in at the back end of last season, I could see he was such an exciting talent and I hope he can replicate that on a bigger stage with Hartlepool.”

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