Injury blows for Hartlepool United ahead of Salford City as former Sunderland forward ruled out for 'at least six weeks'

Forward Jordan Cook has suffered a groin injury that could rule him out until December.

The 31-year-old came off the bench during Pools’ 2-1 win over Northampton Town last Saturday but now faces a spell on the sidelines.

Hartlepool’s matchwinner that day Luke Molyneux is a doubt for the trip to Salford City this weekend but midfielder Gavan Holohan is expected to return to the fold following a groin injury.

“We have a bit of a selection dilemma around what team we pick and whether we can pick the team we want or if we have to be conservative,” Pools manager Dave Challinor admitted.

“We'll definitely not see Jordan Cook. He injured his groin [adductor] towards the last minute of the game last Saturday in a freak incident where he's gone to hurdle one of the opposition players over by the dugout and has felt his groin.

"He's had a scan and he's probably going to be out six weeks minimum which is unfortunate because he'd made a positive impact in the games he'd been involved in.

“Mols has got a bit of a trivial one really. He's had issues with stiffness after games. He's been involved in training on Monday but came in after training and got a significant bruise on the inside of his thigh.

"We don't know where it's from so we're hoping it's just a kick that he's not felt it and it's just flared up but there must have been some type of trauma there.

"If we decide to play him there will be a risk involved in that but we'll look at him in training and he feels fine within himself so we'll make a decision. We hope he can be involved because he's an important player for us.

“Lidds [Gary Liddle] will be back on the grass but we'll have more of an eye on next weekend than this weekend. Apart from that, Gav obviously comes back into the fold after a week's training.

"He'll be a welcome addition to the squad because we know he's a goal threat for us.

“We're hoping we can pick the team we want to pick but regardless, we'll pick a team that will go to win.”

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