Matt Dolan is ready for third Hartlepool United debut following Newport County switch

Dolan became Curle’s first signing in the January window when completing an initial loan move from Newport County - with the deal set to become a permanent transfer in the summer.

It’s been over eight years since Dolan last put on a Hartlepool shirt when part of a 4-0 defeat against Burton Albion in December 2014 as part of a second loan spell with the club, following an initial loan the season previous from Middlesbrough.

But despite having made over 20 appearances already for the club, Dolan admits his imminent third debut will be the most special as the 29-year-old intends to be with the club for a long period of time.

Dolan told The Mail: “My second spell was a bit shorter but I enjoyed my football here the first time round.

“I thought Colin Cooper and Craig Hignett were exceptional and we had a really good squad that year. It was a special kind of dressing room.

“But this feels like my proper debut now. I want to be here for a long period of time so this is my proper debut and I want to go out and enjoy it.”

Dolan is likely to feature as Pools make the trip to the Priestfield Stadium for what is a huge clash at the bottom of the table against bottom side Gillingham.

Pools enter the contest having slipped back into the relegation zone in League Two and Dolan insists he and his team-mates have a job to do.

“It’s lovely to be home, but we’ve got a job to do here,” said Dolan.

“We’re into the business end of the season now. We know what we need to do and it’s about portraying that and putting out on the pitch what we can do.

“I’ve trained the last couple of weeks, I’ve been really impressed with the lads, so now it’s about putting it on the pitch and it’s about making sure we pick up points.

“Let's not beat around the bush, we are where we are. We’ve got to deal with it. There’s no point in hiding behind that fact.

“I think Gillingham have new investors so they’ll be wanting the same things as what we are, but we’ll give everything we can to put results together over the next coming weeks.

“At this level, every game is winnable. It’s a very strange division. I’ve got a lot of experience in it and anyone can beat anyone on their day so we’ll make sure we’re on the right side of those results going forward now.

“It’s a massive game, you don’t want to put too much pressure on games, but it’s the business end of the season.

“Going into it we know what we can do and it will be about exploiting what Gillingham are all about. It’s away from home, but it’s a chance to pick up points against one of our rivals as such, so we’ll go there and look to do that.”