Hartlepool United boss Ronnie Moore freshens side up by signing Mandron and Naismith on loan

The Hartlepool United boss said in SportMail yesterday that he was not averse to making more loan signings at Victoria Park.

And Moore, whose signings were in double figures before August was even finished, was true to his word.

Your copy of the Mail may not have even been put through your letterbox before the arrival of the first loan man – Mikael Mandron, from just up the road at Sunderland.

And, late in the day, came the announcement of the second capture – Portsmouth winger, Kal Naismith, though he can play up the middle too.

Naismith was due to link up with his team-mates at training at Maiden Castle today. Moore said in SportMail yesterday of his desire to “brighten up” Pools.

He did that last week with the double arrival of centre-half Adam Jackson, from Middlesbrough, and Crystal Palace midfielder Jake Gray.

Both settled in so smoothly they were up there with Matthew Bates and Trevor Carson as the team’s star turns against Cheltenham in the FA Cup.

Their arrival comes at a crucial time for Pools, whose pre-Christmas sequence of games includes matches against six of League Two’s top seven and an FA Cup trip to Salford. Not easy, any of it.

Moore knows some of his summer signings have not come off, some may require a breather, while his skipper, Billy Paynter, is struggling with a sore Achilles.

Mandron and Naismith will be staying at Pools until January 3, a schedule which includes 10 games. It will be a maximum of eight for Naismith who will not be allowed to play against his own club on December 12 and is also cup-tied.

French forward Mandron would be a straight replacement for Paynter. He stands 6ft 3in and while he has only scored once in 14 Football League appearances for Fleetwood and Shrewsbury, he is the joint top scorer for Sunderland’s U21 side which, unlike the senior side, is having a good season.

Naismith looks like providing competition for Rhys Oates out wide.

The ex-Barnsley striker has been out-of-sorts over the last two weeks and, given it has been the 20-year-old’s longest sustained run in league football, he may be due a rest.

With Kudus Oyenuga set for a run in the side, Naismith’s arrival puts a question mark over Jason Banton. Moore brought the Wycombe wideman to Pools on a half-season loan but the 23-year-old has barely featured.

Naismith, who came through the Rangers youth set-up, is 6ft 1in so provides height as well as a “fantastic left foot” according to Moore.