Luke Williams injury update as Dave Challinor explains why he started injury prone midfielder for Hartlepool United in abandoned match at Eastleigh

The 27-year-old’s first competitive start in over three years was cut painfully short with another suspected injury set-back.

And to rub more salt into the wound, the fixture at the Silverlake Stadium was later abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch, meaning Williams’ start will effectively be wiped from the record books.

With a quarter of an hour played, Williams pulled up after going in for a challenge which saw him branded with a yellow card by referee James Durkin.

After dropping to the floor in dismay, the midfielder was promptly substituted as he headed straight down the tunnel.

The exact nature and extent of his injury remain unknown, though it’s likely that Williams will be facing yet another spell on the sidelines as the side now look ahead to Tuesday night’s match at home to Wrexham.

Manager Dave Challinor said following the abandoned match at Eastleigh: “He’s had problems with his hamstring but we’ll have to have a look, he’s as disappointed as anything and we’re disappointed for him – we hope it isn’t too serious but we’ll see how he is.

“I don’t know what it is specifically, whether it was one single moment that did it with the tackle or whether it was a build-up of a few things, I’m not sure. We’ll have to see how he is but first and foremost we’ll have to support him and make sure he’s okay.

“We'll take a slight positive from the fact that it’s not an explosive event which looks to have caused major damage. We’ll speak to him and see where he’s at in the next 24 to 48 hours but fingers crossed it’s not so bad and we can take it as a positive.”

Williams hadn’t featured at all for Pools so far this season with his last competitive outing for the club coming almost exactly a year ago in the 4-1 win at Yeovil Town in what was Challinor’s first game in charge.

The Pools boss made a bold decision to start Williams from the cold in the torrential conditions in Hampshire.

And despite how things unfolded on Saturday evening, Challinor has defended his decision to start the midfielder.

“Luke has done really, really well and what we’re looking for at the top end of the pitch is goal threats and someone who can score or create a goal from nothing,” he explained.

“In fairness, Luke made it impossible for us to leave him out with his performances in training. We’ve needed that little bit of creativity in the final third and he’s been training unbelievably well.

"Putting him in wasn’t a gamble by any stretch. I’d spoken to Buster as soon as I saw the pitch and I didn’t want to be too protective but I had thought over whether it would make a difference because of how wet it was. But there were no huge concerns there really.”

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