Jake Hastie opens up on his Hartlepool United struggles after return to John Askey's side

Hastie was Hartlepool’s marquee signing last summer when Paul Hartley brought in the winger from Scottish giants Rangers. Despite his struggles at Ibrox, the 24-year-old still represented a potential coup at Victoria Park given his previous success at the likes of Motherwell and Rotherham United.

Things, as yet, have not worked out for Hastie in a Hartlepool shirt, however, after he found himself frozen out during the second half of last season having struggled, like most, during the opening months of the campaign.

Hastie’s time with the club seemed as though it would be over in the summer as Askey looked to reshape his squad for a return to the National League. But the winger was a surprise inclusion in Askey’s first match day squad of the season where he came off the bench to score against Barnet.

And yet that still didn’t present Hastie with an opportunity of a run back in the first team with the Scotsman having to wait until the recent draw with Ebbsfleet, where he was introduced as a late substitute and scored, to find himself back in contention following a number of brief substitute appearances.

Since then, Hastie has started back-to-back games and added another goal to his tally in the win over York City – where he was also given a standing ovation when leaving the field.

Despite the long road to get back to this point for Hastie, and although there have been a number of challenges, he believes it has been a learning curve.

"It’s been tough but it’s been a good learning curve as well. I've enjoyed it to be fair,” Hastie told BBC Radio Tees.

"There’s a good group here, everybody gets on well with each other and we’re getting back to what we’re good at, which is playing football. For me personally I’ve just had to stay mentally strong and keep working away and eventually things always turn in football, and with hard work it always repays.

“It’s a weird one because you work hard all week and then you’ve got nothing to show for it on a Saturday,” he added of his recent challenge to get back into Askey’s match day squad.

"It’s about trying to get it into your head that if I keep doing this then eventually you’re going to get an opportunity, and if I keep doing it consistently when the opportunity does come up I’ll be ready for it.

"I’ve been working hard since pre-season, I had a good pre-season, and I’ve been feeling really fit and really sharp and I’ve kept working away – the gaffer has told me to keep working hard and I’ve got my chance.

"Last year was a tough year for everybody but it’s been good [under Askey]. Where I felt with the other two gaffers were a little bit more direct, which personally I didn’t think suited me because I couldn’t get into games as much, but the gaffer here likes to play football and it suits me a lot more.

“I’ve gradually got sharper in games and I’m starting to find my feet more.”