John Askey handed Hartlepool United injury boost with duo in contention for return against Northampton Town

John Askey is preparing his side for a difficult fixture against promotion chasing Northampton at the Suit Direct Stadium but could be buoyed by further good news from the treatment room with Crawford, who has been missing since October, and Umerah both back training ahead of the meeting with the Cobblers.

Crawford has been out of action since the defeat at Swindon Town after undergoing surgery on an ankle problem which has plagued him since the end of last season.

The midfielder had been shown by the club back in light training duties before a return to the pre-match warm-up ahead of Hartlepool's recent 1-1 draw with Tranmere Rovers.

The 23-year-old, who signed a new two-year deal with the club last April, could feature in Askey’s squad to face Northampton along with leading scorer Umerah.

Umerah is yet to feature under Askey having struggled with a knee injury and illness in recent weeks.

Askey erred on the side of caution when leaving Umerah out of his squad to face Walsall before being dealt a bit of a setback with the 26-year-old still not fit enough for the trip to Tranmere.

But Askey has confirmed Pools’ talisman has trained this week ahead of the weekend clash with Northampton.

Askey told BBC Tees: “Tom is back and trained fully for the first time so he’ll be in contention.

“Josh is the same, he trained [Tuesday] for the first time so we’ll just have to assess how fit we feel he is.”

Dan Dodds remains doubtful as he continues his recovery from a groin injury - the January signing is expected back this month, while centre-back Peter Hartley serves the final few days of his concussion protocol as Alex Lacey remains a long-term absentee with a shoulder injury .

Northampton, however, are struggling with a number of issues in their squad ahead of the trip to the Suit Direct Stadium.

Defender Aaron McGowan serves the first of his three-game ban while Ali Koiki, Ben Fox and Tyler Magloire are all out for the season with Shaun McWilliams Akin Odimayo, Danny Hylton and Josh Harrop all doubts through injury.