Hartlepool United manager Craig Hignett confirms third knee operation for Luke Williams while injury issues calm down

The Hartlepool United attacking-midfielder looked to have put his injury troubles behind him when he came of the bench to score against Sheffield United under-23s during pre-season but has been limited to just one 10-minute substitute appearance in the National League so far.

The 26-year-old underwent two operations on his knee last season to fix and correct his injury problem. Now he’s gone under the knife once again with surgery to his opposite knee proving to be a success.

“Luke has had an operation on his knee,” Hignett confirmed.

“It’s all gone well and was nothing major, just a clean up thankfully. He’s back on the road to recovery again now but I wouldn’t put a time frame on it.

“He had some floating bits in there which were just taken out so it was just in, keyhole and now getting him back.

“It could be two weeks, it could be four weeks depending on how his knee settles down but I’m not going to say for certain until we speak to the specialist.”

Elsewhere in the squad, Pools’ other injury issues are starting to clear up though Luke Molyneux (leg) remains a long term absence.

“I think we’re okay, Nicke Kabamba came back the other night off the bench and looked his old self again,” Hignett added.

“He put a real shift in and closed down fantastically when he came on so that’s a bonus that we’ve got him back.

“We’re still missing Niko [Muir, hamstring] and Myles Anderson with a cut then obviously the two Lukes are still missing.

“Kenton Richardson [ankle] is back involved, Josh Hawkes is also back with us but needs some training and some games, as a few of them do. So the injuries are getting better day by day.

“I’ll to wait and see if Nicke will be in contention [to start], the run we’ve been on, we’ve done well and the lads deserve their place in the team so I don’t think I’d change it for the sake of it. If I think there’s someone who’ll improve things then I’ll bring them in.”