Hartlepool United manager Craig Hignett pleased to have 'lucky charm' Myles Anderson back in training

Players in the new kit. Hartlepool United fans open day and new strip lunch. Picture by Frank Reid

The 29-year-old defender missed almost the whole of pre-season, featuring for just 66 minutes in total as he recovered from mouth surgery.

And given a fairly remarkable stat about the player, Hignett will be hoping to have Anderson available for selection sooner rather than later.

Since joining Pools from Chester last summer, Anderson has missed 12 National League matches, including the first two of the 2019-20 campaign. In those dozen games without the centre-back, United have failed to win a single one with five draws and seven defeats.

Manager’s can be superstitious and if that’s anything to go by, the sooner Anderson comes back the better as Hignett confirmed: “Myles is back training now, we’ve got players back training who need games, certainly the ones who have missed the vast majority of pre-season.

“If they’re looking good in training then there’s no reason why they can’t be involved.

“It’s important, we’re lucky we’ve got Myles and Aaron Cunningham with Fraser [Kerr] and Raynesy [Michael Raynes] who are in there at the minute.

“Both of those [Anderson and Cunningham] can cover at left-back and right-back if need be so it’s good to have players to fall back on. You’re not constantly panicking and worrying about what if something happens because I’ve got enough in the squad to cope with that.

“The goals conceded have come from us not spotting danger or reading the transition well enough. It’s just little things that need sorting because they make a big difference.”