Keith Curle expects new Hartlepool United arrival ahead of Gillingham trip with Middlesbrough youngster linked

Curle has already brought in the experience of Matt Dolan and Peter Hartley in the opening week of the January transfer window and, speaking after the club’s 3-0 defeat to Stoke City in the FA Cup, hinted there could be another new arrival before the trip to the Priestfield.

Curle has suggested there will be a number of new additions this month as he looks to guide Hartlepool to safety in League Two over the course of the second half of the season and that is expected to continue, although the Pools boss remained coy over the identity of the imminent new arrival.

“Yes,” Curle told The Mail when asked about further arrivals ahead of the weekend.

“But I never count my chickens until they hatch because, believe it or not, I’ve had people in my office at other football clubs and they’ve gone outside and signed for somebody else in the car park.

“That’s not saying it’s my sales pitch, it’s a case of they had two or three options on the go and, ultimately, they chose somebody else, which I understand. So I’ll tell you when the ink has dried on the signature.”

Curle dismissed links with former Hartlepool midfielder Brad Walker to The Mail recently, but it is understood the club holds a strong interest in Middlesbrough youngster Daniel Dodds who returned to the Riverside from a loan spell with Darlington recently ahead of a proposed Football League move.