Hartlepool United hoping to have trio back for crucial FA Cup second round replay against Exeter City

Peter Kioso is nearing a return (photo: Mark Fletcher).

Pools were without Aaron Cunningham (knee), Peter Kioso (concussion), Gavan Holohan (back) in Saturday’s 2-1 National League defeat at Woking.

Manager Dave Challinor will be hoping to have at least a couple of those back for Tuesday night’s replay at Victoria Park.

The introduction of Cunningham in defence helped change the initial tie as Pools came from 2-0 down and will be assessed again ahead of the match though remains a doubt.

Kioso’s concussion picked up at Chesterfield is still being monitored while Holohan is expected to be named on the bench.

“We can’t really change an awful lot, the only player we can really add to the equation is Peter who is obviously an important one but we’ll have to see how he is,” said Hartlepool manager Dave Challinor.

“If not, it will be the squad we had at Woking on Saturday.

“Gav is okay but he’s got an issue with his back. He could have been on the bench on Saturday to be honest but if you’re having problems with your lower back it’s not great to be sat there in the cold and then have to come on so it wasn’t worth risking him.

“We are already low on numbers going into Tuesday’s game but Gav will be fine and we’ll just have to manage his training over the next couple of weeks to try and cure the issue he has.”